Dilated Cardiomyopathy, A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions

by Kenneth Kee

Overview

This book describes Dilated Cardiomyopathy, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases
Cardiomyopathy is the medical disease of the thickened or dilated heart muscle.

Dilated cardiomyopathy is a disorder in which the heart muscle becomes weakened and enlarged or has another structural disorder as the cardiomyopathy becomes worse.
As a result, the heart cannot pump adequate blood to the rest of the body.
There are many types of cardiomyopathy.
1.Dilated cardiomyopathy is the most frequent type.
2.Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
3.Restrictive cardiomyopathy
4.Others -refer causes
Causes
The most frequent causes of dilated cardiomyopathy are:
1.Heart disease produced by a narrowing or blockage of the coronary arteries
2.Poorly regulated high blood pressure
There are many other causes of dilated cardiomyopathy, such as:
1.Alcohol or cocaine abuse
2.Diabetes, thyroid disease, or hepatitis
3.Medicines that can be toxic to the heart, such as drugs used to treat cancer
4.Abnormal heart rhythms that cause the heart to beat very fast for a long duration of time
5.Autoimmune illnesses
6.Disorders that run in families
7.Infections that involve the heart muscle
8.Heart valves that are either too narrow or too leaky
9.During the last month of pregnancy or within 5 months after the baby is born.
10.Exposure to heavy metals such as lead, arsenic, cobalt, or mercury
Symptoms
The symptoms of heart failure are most frequent.
Frequent symptoms are:
1.Chest pain or pressure (more probably with exercise)
2.Cough
3.Fatigue, weakness, faintness
4.Irregular or rapid pulse
5.Loss of appetite
6.Shortness of breath with activity or after lying down (or being asleep) for a while
7.Swelling of feet and ankles
Diagnosis

During the medical examination, the doctor may find:
1.The heart is enlarged.
2.Lung crackles (a sign of fluid buildup), heart murmur, or other abnormal sounds.
3.The liver is possibly enlarged.
4.Neck veins may be bulging.
Heart enlargement or other disorders with the structure can be seen:
1.Echocardiogram
2.Cardiac stress tests
3.Chest x-ray
4.Coronary angiogram to look at blood flow to the heart
5.CT scan of the heart
6.MRI of the heart
7.Nuclear heart scan (MUGA, RNV)
8.Heart biopsy (rarely needed)
Treatment:
Non Medical Care:
1.Rest
2.Oxygen
3.Low salt Diet
4.Treat hypertension
5.Treat angina with nitrates sublingually
6.Cardiac rehabilitation with mild exercise (muscular and pulmonary)
Some medicines can treat the symptoms:
1.Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors
2.Angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs)
3.Beta-blockers
4.Aldosterone antagonists
5.Cardiac glycosides
6.Diuretics
7.Vasodilators
8.Antiarrhythmics
9.Human B-type natriuretic peptide
10.Inotropic agents
11.Neprilysin inhibitor
12.Nitrates
13.Anticoagulants may be used in selected patients
Procedures and surgeries for the patient are:
1.A pacemaker to help treat slow heart rates or help the heartbeat stay in sync
2.A defibrillator that detects life-threatening heart rhythms and sends an electrical pulse to stop them (implantable cardioverter defibrillator)
3.Heart bypass (CABG) surgery or angioplasty to improve blood flow to the damaged or weakened heart muscle
4.Valve replacement or repair
For advanced cardiomyopathy:
1.A heart transplant may be advised if standard treatments have not worked and heart failure symptoms are very severe.
2.Placement of a left ventricular assist device or artificial heart may be done.
Newer methods still under investigations are:
1.Gene therapies
2.Myoblast transplantation
3.Stem cells
4.CardioMEMS is a wireless implantable pulmonary artery (PA) pressure monitoring system

TABLE OF CONTENT
Introduction
Chapter 1 Dilated Cardiomyopathy
Chapter 2 Causes
Chapter 3 Symptoms
Chapter 4 Diagnosis
Chapter 5 Treatment
Chapter 6 Prognosis
Chapter 7 Myocarditis
Chapter 8 Coronary Heart Disease
Epilogue

Product Details

BN ID:	2940155237082
Publisher:	Kenneth Kee
Publication date:	04/30/2018
Sold by:	Smashwords
Format:	eBook
File size:	537 KB

About the Author

Medical doctor since 1972. Started Kee Clinic in 1974 at 15 Holland Dr #03-102, relocated to 36 Holland Dr #01-10 in 2009. Did my M.Sc (Health Management ) in 1991 and Ph.D (Healthcare Administration) in 1993. Dr Kenneth Kee is still working as a family doctor at the age of 65. However he has reduced his consultation hours to 3 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon. He first started writing free blogs on medical conditions seen in the clinic in 2007 on http://kennethkee.blogspot.com. His purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of his patients which is also his dissertation for his Ph.D (Healthcare Administration). He then wrote an autobiolographical account of his journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.com. This autobiolographical account “A Family Doctor’s Tale” was combined with his early “A Simple Guide to Medical Conditions” into a new Wordpress Blog “A Family Doctor’s Tale” on http://ken-med.com. From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 550 amazon kindle books and some into Smashwords.com eBooks. He apologized for typos and spelling mistakes in his earlier books. He will endeavor to improve the writing in futures. Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple. For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients. The later books go into more details of medical conditions. The first chapter of all my ebooks is always taken from my blog A Simple Guide to Medical Conditions which was started in 2007 as a simple educational help to my patients on my first blog http://kennethkee.blogspot.com. The medical condition was described simply and direct to the point. Because the simple guide as taken from the blog was described as too simple, I have increased the other chapters to include more detailed description of the illness, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment. As a result there are the complaints by some readers of constant repetitions of the same contents but in detail and fairly up to date. He has published 550 eBooks on various subjects on health, 1 autobiography of his medical journey, another on the autobiography of a Cancer survivor, 2 children stories and one how to study for his nephew and grand-daughter. The purpose of these simple guides is to educate patient on health conditions and not meant as textbooks. He does not do any night duty since 2000 ever since Dr Tan had his second stroke. His clinic is now relocated to the Bouna Vista Community Centre. The 2 units of his original clinic are being demolished to make way for a new Shopping Mall. He is now doing some blogging and internet surfing (bulletin boards since the 1980's) starting with the Apple computer and going to PC. All the PC is upgraded by himself from XT to the present Pentium duo core. The present Intel i7 CPU is out of reach at the moment because the CPU is still expensive. He is also into DIY changing his own toilet cistern and other electric appliance. His hunger for knowledge has not abated and he is a lifelong learner. The children have all grown up and there are 2 grandchildren who are even more technically advanced than the grandfather where mobile phones are concerned. This book is taken from some of the many articles in his blog (now with 740 posts) A Family Doctor’s Tale. Dr Kee is the author of: "A Family Doctor's Tale" "Life Lessons Learned From The Study And Practice Of Medicine" "Case Notes From A Family Doctor"