Cardiomyopathy Dilated

Question: Cardiomyopathy - dilated? I suffer with cardiomyopathy - dilated is there anybody else who suffers from the same heart condititon as me i also have A.F which as also a heart problem associated with this disease please write and let me know how you cope and if you have any tips to make my life more bearable again thanks mike.

Answer: Hi, if it's actual support you are looking for rather than medical advice, contact the British Heart Foundation, they are really, really helpful. This website is helpful too http://www.cardiomyopathy.org/index.php?… The CMA have message boards and actually they are probably the better people to contact. Best Wishes.

Question: Anybody with Congenital dilated Cardiomyopathy? I would like to talk anybody with Congenital dilated cardiomyopathy, my daughter was born whith it , now she is 13 years old and she start asking question about, and I would like to hear from some one who has been dealing with it ;I would appresiated.

Answer: my friend has it, she is 25, it never really affected her till recently, she hasnt been able to do as much and is under doctors care alot of the time.

Question: How long would it take for a reversible dilated cardiomyopathy to correct itself? I'm 39 years old and I think my running training caused my heart to expand too much. Also, I like to drink... A lot... :) The problem is that I have a half-marathon coming up in 2 weeks. Is it enough time for my heart to completely recover if I abstain from alcohol and cut down on training?

Answer: Alcohol induced Cardiomyopathy is reversible, but you will need to cut back to a small amount of alcohol or it will not reverse. The short answer is yes, if you cut back then the cardiomyopathy will reverse. Depending on other conditions, this can happen as rapidly as 4-6 months, possibly even less because of your relatively young age. It is extremely good that you caught this early. Unresolved this leads to heart failure and early death.

Question: How does Dilated Cardiomyopathy affect you? Sorry for not being specific. I get partial answers from my doctors as far as what can I do. It's really frustrating. So I want to know the problems you face physically and emotionally with this problem?

Answer: First you should have written your age !By cardiomyopathy means it is a dilatation of the heart as a whole which is unable to pump blood in the circulation as normally it should !There are two type of cardiacmyopathy one is ecentric type and second is concentric type !In first one the is a thin muscle causing this problem and in second there is a hypertrophid muscle causing this problem !Left ventricula hypertrophy we call it !There muscle becomes so weak for contractions !patient suffers breathlessness even on slight exertion !!There are many drugs available for to minimize the problems occurring due to it !in case of CCF they give cardiac glycosides like digoxin and digitalis to make heart muscle strong to contract to pump the blood ! But this has its own limitations and should be used with 2 day holiday in taking it ! One should give diuretics mostly potassium preserving on daily base to have more urine for to keep blood volume at desired level so that heart has not to do strain to circulate the blood.High blood pressure should be controlled adequately !One more thing now a day some experimental surgery is also being done like they take thigh muscle and stich it with the weak heart muscle to have strong contraction !In your case without much information i would like to suggest only medical line of treatment to keep life going on easily !There are thousand and thousand people are suffering this !Believe that LIFE IS A GAME OF CHANCE AND CHOICE !we may not pass this wonderful way of human life again so enoy it but without hurting to any living creatures !Be 100 % vegitarian if you are not ! always YouRsmE

Question: Anyone with dilated cardiomyopathy or ARVD here have a heart transplant? I am going in the first week of Jan for a bunch of tests to determine if I am a suitable candidate for a new heart. If you have had a heart transplant, what should I look out for? What was your experience?

Answer: Yes, there is a handful of people and a couple hundred diagnosed with ARVD. I was diagnosed in 1994 an am on my 4th ICD. I am refering to a private yahoo support group for persons and famly members of persons with ARVD. I know of a few ARVD heart transplant people in our group who are doing great! They can even exercise again! Go to this link to join the group and best of luck! David in Maine : http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/mme…

Question: Can certain medicines cause dilated cardiomyopathy? For example the drug Seroquel.

Answer: http://www.pjonline.com/Editorial/199901… The above link can provide you a good deal of information on subject in question. Regarding Seroquel like many psychotic drugs it has effect on CVS if a person is already suffering from any cardiovascular disease. Link given below: http://www.rxlist.com/cgi/generic/quetia…

Question: Is it safe for people woman with dilated cardiomyopathy to have children?

Answer: This is a serious condition and you should speak with your OBGYN and CARDIOLOGIST. Cardiomyopathy pre-pregnancy can cause certain high risks to mother and fetus. Medical conditions as such should be discussed with your healthcare provider.

Question: Can I become a police officer if I have dilated cardiomyopathy?

Answer: I don't think you can. How was this diagnosed? Did you have an echocardiogram? Since you haven't given much information about your heart such as ejection fraction, blood pressure or heart rate my answer is not complete but I strongly believe you will be denied, take care, Donna

Question: Is genetic dilated cardiomyopathy Autosomal dominant disorder or Autosomal recessive disorder?

Answer: It can be either. It most commonly exhibits familial transmission consistent with autosomal dominant (AD) inheritance (approximately 90%), but X-linked (5-10%) and much less commonly autosomal recessive (AR) or mitochondrial inheritance have been reported.

Question: how do you diagnose dilated cardiomyopathy? is it after imaging like mri or simply after looking at the pt's echo?

Answer: Echo is generally more than adequate, assuming you've done the preliminaries. Call me old fashioned, but I still think of history and physical as important.