What is cardiomyopathy?
Cardiomyopathy is any disease of the heart muscle in which the heart loses its ability to pump blood effectively. Cardiomyopathy affects about 50,000 Americans (adults and children). The condition is progressive and sometimes worsens quickly.

• Chemotherapy for childhood cancers
• Excessive use of alcohol, cocaine or antidepressant medications
• Genetic abnormalities or diseases
• Heart tissue damage from a heart attack
• Hemochromatosis
• High blood pressure
• Metabolic disorders
• Nutritional deficiencies
• Uncontrollable, fast heart rhythms
• Valvular heart disease
• Viral infections

What are the symptoms of cardiomyopathy?  
Some people with cardiomyopathy don’t experience any symptoms in the early stages. Without treatment, cardiomyopathy gets worse and symptoms may include:  

• Bloating
• Dizziness, lightheadedness and fainting
• Fatigue
• Irregular, sometimes rapid or fluttering heartbeats 
• Shortness of breath
• Swelling of the legs, ankles and feet
  

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy:

• Is a rare disease that’s usually inherited
• Can affect children, men and women of all ages
• Can cause cardiac arrhythmias, which may lead to sudden death

What is dilated cardiomyopathy?
Dilated cardiomyopathy is the most common type of cardiomyopathy. It occurs when the heart cavity becomes enlarged and stretched (cardiac dilation), causing the heart to become weak. Blood clots can form.

Dilated cardiomyopathy:

• Occurs most often in middle-aged people and more often in men than women, but has been diagnosed in people of all ages, including children
• Usually leads to heart failure
• Occasionally occurs as a complication of pregnancy and childbirth   

What is restrictive cardiomyopathy?  
Restrictive cardiomyopathy, the least common type of cardiomyopathy, occurs when the heart muscle becomes rigid, which slows down the filling of the ventricles (pumping chambers) with blood between heartbeats.

Restrictive cardiomyopathy:

• Usually results from another disease that occurs elsewhere in the body
• Is most often seen in the elderly

What is the treatment for cardiomyopathy?  
Treatment for cardiomyopathy is determined based on the type, cause and severity of the disease. Treatment can include:

• Alcohol ablation -- a nonsurgical treatment where alcohol is injected into an artery to destroy extra heart muscle. This can reduce muscle thickness and improve blood flow. 
• Heart transplant
• Lifestyle changes
• Medication
• Pacemaker/implantable cardioverter defibrillator 
• Treatment of the underlying cause
• Surgery to remove or reduce a portion of a thickened muscle wall