Introduction

Cardiomyopathy or heart failure is a type of cardiac disease that comes in different varieties and causes. Each type of cardiomyopathy weakens the heart function and makes it difficult to pump blood throughout the body. If cardiomyopathy is left untreated, it might result in the need for a surgically implanted heart regulatory device or potentially a heart transplant; consequently, recognising the symptoms and obtaining treatment is critical. An individual may not have any indications or symptoms of cardiomyopathy in the early stages. However, as the disease advances, symptoms usually become apparent. Understanding the fundamentals of heart health allows an early recognition of such signs and symptoms of cardiomyopathy.

How to know if heart is weak

Not all heart diseases have obvious warning symptoms. Some heart symptoms do not even manifest in the chest, and it is masked and sometimes misleading. This is especially true when one is 60 or older, overweight, or suffers from diabetes, high cholesterol, or high blood pressure. The more risk factors, the more concerned you should be about the heart-related problem. The following are signs and symptoms of a weakened heart:

• Feeling of pressure or discomfort in the chest.
• Dry cough, shortness of breath on exertion or at rest.
• Unexplained profuse sweating.
• Palpitation, tachycardia or bradycardia
• Lightheadedness, dizziness, loss of consciousness.
• Easy exhausted, lethargy, fatigue
• Lower extremities pain or swelling, which include the feet and ankles.
• Chest pain, referral to the left arm and lower jaw.
• Nausea, indigestion, heartburn, or abdominal pain.

Without proper treatment or management, these symptoms are likely to worsen. The rate and severity at which various types of cardiac abnormalities progress varies. For certain people, the condition remains stable for years, while for some, it progresses rapidly.

Types of cardiomyopathy

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

This form of the disease is distinguished by a thickening of the heart muscle, which mostly affects the heart’s central pumping chamber, the left ventricle. The illness has caused heart muscles to be thickened and stiff, less elastic, the heart needs to work harder. The majority of persons who have this type of cardiomyopathy may inherit several genetic mutations connected to this condition. Furthermore, when this type of cardiomyopathy occurs in childhood, it is usually the most severe.

Dilated cardiomyopathy

The ventricles dilated, reducing its contractility, ability to properly pump blood out of the heart. Although this type of cardiomyopathy can affect persons of any age, it most commonly affects people between the ages of 45 and 65. Men have a higher risk than women to have this type of cardiomyopathy. A heart attack or coronary artery disease is the most common cause of dilated cardiomyopathy.

Restrictive cardiomyopathy

This type of sickness is distinguished by the heart muscle becoming inflexible, losing suppleness to the point that it can no longer expand sufficiently to fill with blood between each beating. This type of cardiomyopathy is uncommon, and while it can occur at any age, it primarily affects the elderly. The reasons for restrictive cardiomyopathy may be unknown, or they may be the result of a condition occurring elsewhere in the body that affects his or her heart.

Arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia

This type of cardiomyopathy is quite rare. Scar tissue replaces the muscle in the lower right chamber of the heart, right ventricle causing rhythmatic issues. This type of cardiomyopathy is commonly caused by genetic abnormalities.

Conclusion

There are a lot of causes for heart weakness, and eventually heart failure, cardiomyopathy. Early identification, diagnosis and treatment definitely will be beneficial, and have a better outcome. To do so, a proper history taking, physician examinations and investigations such as electrocardiogram, ECG, chest x-ray, echocardiogram is needed. Therefore, if you experienced any of the symptoms suggestive of cardiomyopathy, please do present yourself to any hospital or clinic, make an appointment for doctor consultation.