Cardiomyopathy

Cardiomyopathy – a weakening of the heart muscle or a change in the structure of the heart muscle often associated with inadequate pumping or other heart functions.

Causes

  • Heart attacks
  • Long-term, severe high blood pressure
  • Valvular heart disease
  • Alcoholism
  • Diabetes
  • Infections
  • Sarcoidosis
  • End-stage kidney disease
  • Celiac disease
  • Nutritional deficiencies (particularly selenium, thiamine, and L-carnitine)

Symptoms: vary based on the type of cardiomyopathy

  • Abdominal swelling
  • Angina (chest pain)
  • Cough
  • Dizziness
  • Fainting
  • Fatigue
  • High blood pressure
  • Palpitations
  • Shortness of breath

Diagnosis:

  • Medical history
  • Physical examination
  • Electrocardiogram
  • Echocardiogram
  • Exercise stress test
  • Stress echocardiogram
  • Nuclear stress test
  • Blood testing

Treatment Options:

  • Transition to a low salt diet
  • Treatment of underlying causes for valvular heart disease, alcoholism, diabetes, sarocoidosis, and Celiac disease
  • Supervised aerobic exercise
  • Medications
  • Bi-Ventricular Pacemakers (improve cardiac function)
  • Defibrillators (protect from life-threatening arrhythmias)
  • Open heart-valve or cardiac remodeling surgery for severe cases
  • Heart transplantation for very severe cases

Importance: can result in serious complications, and is often unexpected

  • Heart failure
  • Irregular heart beat