What Is Ischemic Cardiomyopathy?
Ischemic cardiomyopathy is a kind of disease which mainly happens after a heart attack or any kind of coronary artery disease as the muscles of the heart get weakened. Due to ischemic cardiomyopathy, what happens is that the ability of the heart of the patient for pumping the blood gets decreased as the left ventricle which is one pumping chamber of the heart gets enlarged and weak.
Symptoms of Ischemic Cardiomyopathy
The following are the symptoms of ischemic cardiomyopathy:
- Excessive fatigue
- Dizziness
- Chest pain
- Palpitation
- Weight gain
- Swelling of legs and feet
- Fainting
- Shortness of breath.
What Are The Various Risk Factors of Ischemic Cardiomyopathy?
Ischemic cardiomyopathy is mainly caused by the person who had already experienced a heart attack. Apart from that, people who has a family history of coronary heart disease has a huge risk of having Ischemic Cardiomyopathy. Moreover, a person having high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, kidney disease, amyloidosis, and diabetes also have a huge chance of developing this disease. Persons who have a history of smoking, taking alcohol, drugs or tobacco also have a huge risk of developing ischemic cardiomyopathy.
Diagnosis of Ischemic Cardiomyopathy
When the cardiologist suspects for ischemic cardiomyopathy, they generally first examine the family medical history of the patient and then ask the patient to perform some physical and other medical tests. There are some common tests that the cardiologist prescribes to perform during this condition. These tests include blood tests, Electrocardiogram (ECG), CT scan, MRI scan, exercise, stress test, etc.
It is also seen sometimes that doctors ask the patient to go for a biopsy. With the help of biopsy, the doctor can determine the cause of ischemic cardiomyopathy. While performing biopsy doctors use to take a small tissue from the heart of the patient and then they examine that tissue under a microscope to find out the cause of the disease.
How is Ischemic Cardiomyopathy Treated?
In order to treat ischemic cardiomyopathy, the doctor first needs to address the underlying reasons for it. That is the reason why it is mostly seen that doctors recommended a combination of lifestyle changes, medications as well as surgery.
For treating ischemic cardiomyopathy, it becomes very necessary to take a healthy diet, especially you have to take food that is low in saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium. It is also advisable to do exercise regularly which is safe at this condition. It is very important to quit alcohol, smoking, and drugs. As far as medicine is concerned, doctors may prescribe beta-blocker, calcium channel blocker, aldosterone inhibitor, blood thinner medicine or medicine for controlling high cholesterol. Sometimes, it may become necessary to implant pacemaker or need to do balloon angioplasty or radiation therapy, etc.
Conclusion
Ischemic cardiomyopathy is a very serious condition and if it is left untreated it may lead to blood clot due to which the patient may experience heart failure or even death. Thus, if you ever have a heart attack or have a family history of coronary artery disease, it is very important to diagnose your health condition at regular interval so that you can avoid the serious consequence of ischemic cardiomyopathy.
Also Read:
