Cardiomyopathy: Heart and Mental Alertness Essay

Submitted By kaileynichole
Words: 635
Pages: 3

Cardiomyopathy is a very serious heart disease. There are many types of this illness. This is common in 1 in every 100 people usually in men over 65 years of age. In this report we will be discussing the disease itself, the signs and symptoms of the disease, how this disease can be treated, the prognosis, and the research for the future of this non-communicable disease. Cardiomyopathy, although it doesn’t have any household names, its different types are dilated, hypertrophic, and restrictive. This disease affects the heart by causing the heart to be enlarged, thickened, or ridged. It is a result of a complication of coronary arterial disease (CAD) when the arteries give blood to the heart but the pathway is blocked. Cardiomyopathy can be either hereditary or acquired through time. There is not an obvious known history of this disease. However, it was found that some of the first genes to cause the disease have a desmosome structure which is the site of attachment between skin cells. Although this disease can be prevented by controlling blood pressure, not smoking or drinking, and living a healthy life, it is possible to still get the disease. Some possible symptoms are shortness of breath, fatigue, changes in urination, chest pains, palpitations, and changes in mental alertness. Some patients are objected to swelling of the legs, feet, and abdomen due to fluid abnormality in the area. Also, swelling in the abdomen can cause pain and loss of appetite which is odd because they might also experience abnormal weight gain due to the swelling. Many of these symptoms are manageable with the right drugs and/or therapy. Patients with cardiomyopathy usually have different treatments that depends their symptoms. Some doctors use beta-blockers to treat shortness of breath and chest pain. Many patients are also given Antiarrhythmic medicines which help regulate the hearts rhythm. After having the disease for awhile patients are usually subjected to electrocardiogram or EKG test to monitor the health of the heart. If conditions worsen the patient will most likely have an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator or ICD implanted just blow the skin to continuously monitor the heart. But as conditions worsen the last and final option is a heart transplant although this very rarely happens due to the shortage of donated hearts available.
Cardiomyopathy is not completely curable. They can use treatments to minimize their symptoms. “Many people can live long, healthy lives not even realizing that they have Cardiomyopathy because they have no symptoms. For