There are many factors that cause damage to the cardiac muscle which leads to dilated cardiomyopathy or heart failure. A few of them are given as follows.

Coronary artery disease. When a coronary artery gets blocked, heart attacks occurs leading to the death of heart muscle cells. Initially, the damage occurs only in the region of muscle supplied by the blocked artery. But within a few months time, the whole left ventricle remodels or dilates to compensate for the damage that has occurred. The amount of ventricular dilation is minimal with a small heart attack. However, with a series of smaller heart attacks, or a large heart attack, the dilated cardiomyopathy becomes intensive, and results in the heart failure. This factor is the most common cause of cardiomyopathy in developed nations.

Alcohol. Alcohol works as a powerful toxin to heart muscle and directly damages the cardiac cells. In some individuals, alcoholic cardiomyopathy will be apparent in few of five years of excessive consumption of alcohol.

Myocarditis. When the heart muscle gets inflammation, it is called myocarditis. Myocarditis is primarily caused by viral infections, apart from bacterial infections and non-infectious causes such as lupus and other inflammatory diseases.

Valvular heart disease. Valvular heart disease is another cause for heart failure. The    aortic regurgitation and mitral regurgitation lead to dilated cardiomyopathy. The cardiac chambers gradually enlarge and it is an indication of valve replacement or repair.

High blood pressure. Hypertension usually causes hypertrophic cardiomyopathy or diastolic dysfunction, but gradually it can also lead to heart failure or dilated cardiomyopathy.

Thyroid disease. Thyroid disease is of two types- hyperthyroidism (thyroid gland too active) or hypothyroidism (thyroid gland not active enough). Both of them can result in heart failure. Hyperthyroidism is more likely to cause a dilated cardiomyopathy, whereas the latter one is more likely to cause diastolic heart failure.

Nutritional. Deficiency in nutritional intake – especially lack of vitamin B1 – can lead to cardiomyopathy. This form of cardiomyopathy caused by nutritional abnormalities is mainly seen in developing nations, and in alcoholics.

Postpartum. This factor arises in women within a month of delivering a baby. And the peripartum cardiomyopathy is associated with childbirth and it is the result of a myocarditis that occurs for unknown reasons. Many of the women affected  with postpartum recover completely, but few develop a rapid and severe dilated cardiomyopathy.

Genetic. Dilated cardiomyopathy has genetic forms.  Some families are affected by an very high incidence of cardiac dilation.

Cardiac “overwork.” Any situation or condition (like  abnormal sustained tachycardias, anemia, chronic hyperthyroidism, and the overwork produced by leaky (regurgitant) heart valves) that causes the heart muscle to work at high loads for prolonged periods of time (weeks or months) weakens the heart muscle. This results in dilated cardiomyopathy.

Broken heart syndrome. Stress cardiomyopathy or broken heart syndrome is an unusual form dilated cardiomyopathy and it is generally reversible and fortunately rare. This is usually observed in otherwise healthy patients (mostly in women), who experience sudden, severe emotional trauma. Severe shortness of breath and chest pain occurs indicating a heart attack and patients become critically ill with heart failure. However, with appropriate care patients survive and the cardiomyopathy is reversed and it disappears in short order. The main cause cause of stress cardiomyopathy is yet to be found out .

Idiopathic. In many cases, where the specific causes of dilated cardiomyopathy are not determined, the dilated cardiomyopathy is said to be “idiopathic.”

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Filed under: Heart Failure Causes

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