Cardiomyopathy

Cardiomyopathy
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Cardiomyopathy
The term cardiomyopathy could be elucidated as a heart condition occurring because of an abnormal heart muscle. The condition could be categorized into four types, which include restrictive, arrhythmogenic, hypertropic, and dilated cardiomyopathies. Critical to the discussion is the fact that dilated and hypertrophic cardiomyopathies record the highest incidence rates. As evidence, Wexler et al., (2009) argue that every seven out of 100,000 adults and 0.57 out of every 100,000 children experience dilated cardiomyopathy. As a result, it is the third principal cause of heart failure in the United States of America. Further, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy records an incidence of one in five hundred people and is the chief cause for unexpected death in athletes. It is also notable that cases of arryhythmogenic and restrictive cardiomyopathy are rare. This paper focuses on the etiology, pathophysiological process, clinical complications, diagnosis, and health patterns affected by cardiomyopathy.
The etiological characteristics of the disease under discussion include elements such as gender, environment, lifestyle, genetics, and age. For instance, people living in the African environment are likely to experience restrictive cardiomyopathy because of famine and hunger. In addition, genes could cause cardiomyopathy because of the autosomal dominant trait and the troponin T mutation. Males are also likely to suffer from cardiomyopathy than females. As evidence, Sisakian (2014) argues that dilated cardiomyopathy, is more prevalent in males than females. The author further asserts that hypertrophic and arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathies are slightly less prevalent in females than males. Age varies with the type of cardiomyopathy because non-ischemic cardiomyopathies occur across all ages, while ischemic cardiomyopathies occur among the elderly. Ultimately, lifestyles such as drinking, smoking, and excessive salt consumption also increase the risk of suffering from cardiomyopathy.
It is clear that there are different types of cardiomyopathies implying the different types have different pathophysiology. As a result, it is advisable to review the publication by Sisakian (2014) for a thorough analysis of pathophysiology for cardiomyopathies. The hypertrophic cardiomyopathy occurs because of small ventricles resulting from an abnormal arrangement and growth of cardiac muscle fibers. This type of condition is genetic and is associated with gene mutations, which encode a protein that form sarcomeres in the contractile. This forces the myocyte hypertrophies to enlarge and fight the contraction, which in turn results in a disorganized myocyte fibers. The onset of symptoms varies because they occur from infancy to late adulthood. The process results in thickening of ventricular muscles, a stiff heart, and an impaired filling of the ventricular muscles. This increases pressure in the heart and lungs, which in turn results in fluid retention and shortness in breath.