Heart Disease and Cardiomyopathy
Cardiomyopathy, or heart muscle disease, is a type of progressive heart disease in which the heart is abnormally enlarged, thickened, and/or rigid. As a result, the heart muscle's ability to pump blood is weakened, often causing heart failure and the backup of blood into the lungs or rest of the body. The disease can also cause abnormal heart rhythms.
Usually, cardiomyopathy begins in the heart's lower chambers (the ventricles), but in severe cases can affect the upper chambers, or atria.
Women and Heart Disease: Key Facts You Need to Know
Which one of the following statements is true? Each year, heart disease claims the lives of more women then breast cancer and lung cancer combined. A greater percentage of women die within one year of a heart attack than men. The death rate of African-American women due to cardiovascular disease is greater than white women. Diabetes is a risk factor for heart disease. The answer: All of them. And experts say they represent only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the facts...
Read the Women and Heart Disease: Key Facts You Need to Know article > >
There are four main types of cardiomyopathy:
- Dilated cardiomyopathy
- Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
- Restrictive cardiomyopathy
- Arrhythmogenic (ah-rith-mo-JEN-ik) right ventricular dysplasia
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