Cardiomyopathy is the general term used for various diseases of the heart muscle. These conditions change the structure of your heart, impacting its ability to pump blood around the body.
Some cardiomyopathy diseases stretch the walls of your heart chambers, making them thinner, while others cause them to thicken or stiffen. These changes make it more difficult for the muscle to effectively pump blood, leading to symptoms such as fatigue, chest pain and swelling in the lower body. Cardiomyopathy can also disrupt the rhythm of your heart, causing cardiac arrhythmia.
Cardiomyopathy conditions can remain stable quite often but sometimes they can worsen over time, although treatment often helps to slow degeneration. Weakening of the heart muscles can eventually lead to heart failure but also increases your risk of other serious conditions such as blood clots and cardiac arrests. However, some cases of cardiomyopathy need no treatment.
According to Cardiomyopathy UK, around 1 in 250 people are affected by heart muscle diseases.
If you're worried that you might have cardiomyopathy, rest assured you've got access to the best cardiac care with HCA UK. We provide rapid testing to get to the bottom of your symptoms and the most effective treatments for cardiomyopathy if you're diagnosed with it.