Diseases related to myocardia or heart muscle cells are termed cardiomyopathy. They are a common cause of heart failure, and the Cleveland Clinic underlines that more than 36,000 people with cardiomyopathy are admitted to the hospital every year in the United States. The origins of these types of conditions are usually unknown. However, several factors may contribute, including alcohol intake; certain viral, bacterial or fungal infections; as well as medical conditions such as high blood pressure, thyroid disease, diabetes and inherited conditions, as listed by the Mayo Clinic.
Dilated Cardiomyopathy
Dilated cardiomyopathy is a heart muscle disease that occurs most commonly in men. The heart muscles become weakened, loose and increased in size, resulting in adequate heart function. The heart chambers then become more dilated in an effort to pump blood out more efficiently. This causes blood pooling and clot formation in the heart that can dislodge and travel to other blood vessels in the body. Other symptoms of dilated cardiomyopathy include edema or swelling in the feet, ankle and legs, pooling of fluid in the lungs, shortness of breath and loss of energy. The individual may also experience chronic fatigue as oxygen and nutrients are not effectively transported to the cells of the body. The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute notes that dilated cardiomyopathy can lead to heart valve disease and arrhythmias.
Restrictive Cardiomyopathy
In restrictive cardiomyopathy, the heart muscles stiffen and do not relax completely during the resting phase of the pumping cycle. The heart is then unable to fill with blood at top capacity and function properly. The University of Maryland Medical Center warns that this condition can result in damage to other parts of the body such as the lungs, liver, brain and kidneys. The size of the heart may remain the same but the ventricles become fibrosed and stiff, potentially leading to heart failure and arrhythmias. Restrictive cardiomyopathy may be caused by deposition of abnormal protein in the heart muscle cells such as in amyloidosis, sarcoidosis or scleroderma, or may be due to tumors, carcinoid heart disease, endomyocardial fibrosis, Loeffler's syndrome and radiation fibrosis. This disease most often occurs in elderly people.
Hypertrophic Cardiopathy
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a complicated form of heart muscle disease in which the left and right ventricles and the wall between them, the septum, become thickened and stiff, making these heart chambers that hold blood smaller. The heart then must exert greater pressure to contract to pump the decreased amount of blood. Symptoms of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy include chest pain and fatigue. Fainting and dizziness during physical activity may also result when blood outflow is obstructed by the thickened heart wall and septum. The Cleveland Clinic notes that this cardiomyopathy disease affects one in every 500 individuals in the United States, is inherited in families and can occur at any age.
