What is Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy?

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a devastating condition that affects the lining of the heart. But even though it’s fairly common, not that many people know much about it. And that’s dangerous because the condition often doesn’t cause many symptoms learning on. It’s possible that you could have hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and not even know.

That’s why it’s important to learn about the disease and the symptoms that it often causes. Recognizing hypertrophic cardiomyopathy early, before the disease can progress too far, can be a matter of life and death. So what is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy? What are the symptoms? And how is it treated?

What Is Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy?

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a condition where the muscles lining the heart become thicker and stiff. You see, the heart is made up of four chambers. There are the right and left ventricles and the left and right atrium. The ventricles are naturally thicker because they do the hard work of pumping blood up into the atriums where it is distributed throughout the body.

But when you have hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, the walls of the ventricles can become so thick that they block the flow of blood into the atrium. And it can also block the action of the valves in the heart, which causes blood to leak back into the ventricles. In this case, the condition is called obstructive cardiomyopathy. But even though not all cases of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy are obstructive, all can be dangerous.

As the walls of the heart grow thicker and less flexible, they make it harder for your heart to pump blood. Eventually, if the condition grows severe enough, the heart can cease to function, which leads to heart attacks and often, death. Luckily, most cases of cardiomyopathy aren’t this severe, particularly in the early stages. But this fact can also make the condition harder to detect.

Usually, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is the result of genetic mutations that cause your heart cells to reproduce rapidly, leading to the thicker tissue in the ventricles. That, of course, means that the condition is inheritable and someone with a parent who has the condition has a very high chance of developing it themselves.

What Are The Symptoms?

Often, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy presents no noticeable symptoms. This is especially true early on when the condition hasn’t done much damage. But if the condition is severe enough, it can produce some serious symptoms.

First, the added stress to the heart often leads to higher blood pressure. Secondly, as the heart grows weaker, it has to work harder to keep pumping blood. As a result, the heart will sometimes pulse quickly, resulting in a sort of flutter called a heart palpitation. Or it may result in an abnormal heartbeat called an arrhythmia. These flutters and changes in the rhythm of the heart are often the best sign of cardiomyopathy and your doctor can easily detect them with a stethoscope.

Finally, you may experience chest pains after exercise or a frequent shortness of breath. And some people may even experience fainting spells.

How Is It Treated?

Often, the best way to treat hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is by living a heart-healthy lifestyle. Maintaining a healthy weight and diet can reduce the stress on your heart. Smoking and drug abuse are also extremely damaging to the heart and can make cases of cardiomyopathy much worse. Quitting can go a long way to helping someone with the condition manage their symptoms.

Doctors also prescribe a number of medications to help treat cardiomyopathy. Often, the first step is to control the high blood pressure that comes with the condition and can lead to deadly strokes or heart attacks. There are a lot of different drugs like ACE inhibitors that can help with that.

And your doctor may also prescribe anticoagulants, a class of drug that helps thin the blood. That prevents your blood from forming clots that can cut off blood flow to and from the heart and makes it easier for your ventricles to pump the blood around your body.