Symptoms of Dilated Cardiomyopathy!
Causes & Risk Factors For Dilated Cardiomyopathy!
How To Diagnose Dilated Cardiomyopathy?
Treatment of Dilated Cardiomyopathy!
Dilated cardiomyopathy is a heart condition in which the heart muscles become weakened and stretched. This can cause the heart to become enlarged, especially the left ventricle, thereby making it difficult to push blood effectively and efficiently as it should towards the peripheral body parts. It is a serious condition that can eventually lead to heart failure if not treated early. With timely and proper treatment, many people with this condition can lead healthy lives without suffering a heart attack.
Symptoms of Dilated Cardiomyopathy!
Although many people with this condition often show minimal to no symptoms, some people show varied symptoms which may become worse over time due to prolonged weakness of the heart muscles. Such symptoms may show up at any age and can include the following symptoms:
- Fatigue, weakness, and shortness of breath.
- Excessive swelling in the legs and feet.
- Night sweats, fainting, and dizzy spells.
- Fluttering or palpitations in the middle of the chest.
- Excessive weight gain.
- Blood clots travel to the limbs or brain after breaking off from the left ventricle.
- Severe discomfort or pain in the chest that may result in severe heart conditions such as complete heart failure, sudden death, or stroke.
Causes & Risk Factors For Dilated Cardiomyopathy!
There are many possible causes including viral infections, genetic disorders, and exposure to certain toxins. In some cases, the cause is unknown. However, certain pre-existing conditions if left untreated or and other factors which may result in dilated cardiomyopathy symptoms as below:
- CAD or coronary artery disease.
- Chronic alcoholism.
- Prolonged diabetes.
- Thyroid disease.
- Malfunctioning heart valves.
- Chronic viral infections that may impact the heart muscles.
- Drug-induced damage to the heart.
How To Diagnose Dilated Cardiomyopathy?
A professional cardiologist, who specializes in diagnosing and treating the heart conditions, will give you a diagnosis after reviewing things such as those listed below:
- Your complete symptoms profile
- Your medical, social, and family history.
- Your physical examination, lab results, and diagnostic tests.
- Specific battery of tests to assess your heart function to include chest x-rays, ECG, EKG, exercise stress test, and even cardiac catheterization results.
- Your radiologic tests including MRI or CT scan results.
Treatment of Dilated Cardiomyopathy!
After a thorough evaluation and complete review of your health profile, your doctor will plan the best course of treatment for you which may include the following:
- Prescription medications to manage your symptoms that may lead to heart failure which may include:
- Blood thinners in order to prevent blood clots.
- Diuretics to prevent excessive accumulation of water content in your body.
- ACE inhibitors, beta-blockers, or ARB
- Lifestyle changes which may include:
- A heart-healthy diet which is low on sodium and fat
- Exercising, especially doing aerobic exercises.
- Interventional Procedures or surgical options include:
- Insertion of biventricular pacemaker to ensure cardiac resynchronization.
- Placement of implantable cardioverter defibrillators to avoid arrhythmias.
- Minimally invasive cardiac catheterization surgeries to include surgery to correct coronary artery disease and any valvular heart disease that may be present.
- In rare cases, a complete heart transplant surgery may be recommended.
Consult Dr. Arun To Get The Best Possible Treatment Options Available for Dilated Cardiomyopathy Symptoms!
If you have symptoms of dilated cardiomyopathy or someone has given you a diagnosis of this condition, you should seek consultation with Dr. Arun Hari who is a board-certified, highly skilled interventional cardiologist who is well known for his tremendous success with minimally invasive cardiac procedures to fix various and sundry heart conditions including dilated cardiomyopathy utilizing the state-of-the-art equipment and latest technology to do any such procedures with great ease.
