Dr Lalitha Badul
Cardiomyopathy is a progressive disease of the heart muscle. In most cases, the heart muscle weakens and is unable to pump blood to the rest of the body as well as it should.
Medical treatment and follow-up care are important. They can help prevent heart failure or other complications.
Who is at risk for cardiomyopathy?
Cardiomyopathy can affect people of all ages. Major risk factors include the following, a family history of cardiomyopathy, sudden cardiac arrest, or heart failure, coronary heart disease, diabetes, severe obesity, sarcoidosis, hemochromatosis, amyloidosis, heart attack, long-term high blood pressure, alcoholism.
What are the symptoms of cardiomyopathy?
The symptoms of all types of cardiomyopathy tend to be similar. In all cases, the heart can’t adequately pump blood to the tissues and organs of the body.
It can result in symptoms such as:, general weakness and fatigue, shortness of breath, particularly during exertion or exercise, lightheadedness and dizziness, chest pain, heart palpitations, fainting attacks, high blood pressure, edema, or swelling, of your feet, ankles, and legs.
Next week we look at treatment.
Click to receive news links via WhatsApp. Or for the latest news, visit our webpage or follow us on Facebook and Twitter
