Karl
Note: When I look up some "strange"
disease I use
www.google.com . When I find, as I
did in this case, MANY victim support groups
shown among the search results I know I have found another hopeless disease.
I won't even take the time to give references
to these victim groups -- they are easily
found.
The all say, for this and other similar diseases, something like:
1. There is no known origin (or some mysterious origin)
2. There is no known cure.
In most cases the remedy is to take psychiatric drugs to get over the depression caused by a hopeless disease.
This one is another hopeless disease.
I don't hesitate to be blunt about this. People who have swallowed lies about this disease are convinced that there is no cure, yet they look. When I tell them what the cure is, they reject it out of hand.
If you "have" this disease I predict you will NOT read my suggestions -- you have fallen into the clutches of the medical establishment.
But, prove me wrong. CLICK HERE for an article on Fibromyalgia. Sure, it is very different. But, it is, like this one, a hopeless disease and the story on that link applies here also, including the remedy.
Let's look at the word: "Cardiomyopathy."
The "cardio" part simply refers to the heart.
"pathy" means disease or illness.
"Myo" means related to the skeleton or muscle, not nerves.
The heart is a muscle, so this fancy name is nothing more than a heart (muscle) with some disease.
It is often called an inherited disease.
Whatever it is, drugs are not the remedy.
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Cardiomyopathy
Cardiomyopathy (kar"de-o-mi-OP'ah-the) is a serious disease in which the heart muscle becomes inflamed and doesn't work as well as it should. There may be multiple causes including viral infections. Cardiomyopathy can be classified as primary or secondary. Primary cardiomyopathy can't be attributed to a specific cause, such as high blood pressure, heart valve disease, artery diseases or congenital (kon-JEN'ih-tal) heart defects. Secondary cardiomyopathy is due to specific causes. It's often associated with diseases involving other organs as well as the heart. There are three main types of cardiomyopathy -- dilated, hypertrophic and restrictive. What is dilated (congestive) cardiomyopathy? This is the most common form. In it, the heart cavity is enlarged and stretched (cardiac dilation). The heart is weak and doesn't pump normally, and most patients develop congestive heart failure. Abnormal heart rhythms called arrhythmias (ah-RITH'me-ahz) and disturbances in the heart's electrical conduction also may occur. Blood flows more slowly through an enlarged heart, so blood clots easily form. A blood clot that forms in an artery or the heart is called a thrombus (THROM'bus). A clot that breaks free, circulates in the bloodstream and blocks a small blood vessel is called an embolus (EM'bo-lus).
A condition known as Barth syndrome, a rare and relatively unknown genetically linked cardiac disease, can cause dilated cardiomyopathy. This syndrome affects male children, usually during their first year of life. It can also be diagnosed later. In these young patients the heart condition is often associated with changes in the skeletal muscles, short stature and an increased likelihood of catching bacterial infections. They also have neutropenia (NU'tro-pen"e-ah), which is a decrease in the number of white blood cells known as neutrophils (NU'tro-filz). There are clinical signs of the cardiomyopathy in the newborn child or within the first months of life. These children also have metabolic (met"ah-BOL'ik) and mitochondrial (mí"to-KON'dre-al) abnormalities. How is dilated (congestive) cardiomyopathy treated? A person with cardiomyopathy may suffer an embolus before any other symptom of cardiomyopathy appears. That's why anti-clotting (anticoagulant) (an"tih-ko-AG'u-lant) drug therapy may be needed. Arrhythmias may require antiarrhythmic (an"tih-ah-RITH'mik) drugs. More rarely, "heart block" may develop, requiring an artificial pacemaker. Therapy for dilated cardiomyopathy is sometimes disappointing, however. If the person is young and otherwise healthy, and if the disease gets worse and worse, a heart transplant may be considered. When cardiomyopathy results in a significantly enlarged heart, the mitral (MI'tral) and tricuspid (tri-KUS'pid) valves may not be able to close properly, resulting in murmurs. Blood pressure may increase because of increased sympathetic nerve activity. These nerves can also cause arteries to narrow. This mimics hypertensive (hi"per-TEN'siv) heart disease (high blood pressure). That's why some people have high blood pressure readings. Because the blood pressure determines the heart's workload and oxygen needs, one treatment approach is to use vasodilators (drugs that "relax" the arteries). They lower blood pressure and thus the left ventricle's workload. What is hypertrophic (hi"per-TRO'fik) cardiomyopathy? In this condition, the muscle mass of the left ventricle enlarges or "hypertrophies." In one form of the disease, the wall (septum) between the two ventricles (pumping chamber) becomes enlarged and obstructs the blood flow from the left ventricle. The syndrome is known as hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (H.O.C.M.) or asymmetric septal hypertrophy (A.S.H.). It's also called idiopathic hypertrophic subaortic stenosis (sub"a-OR'tik sten-O'sis) (I.H.S.S.). Besides obstructing blood flow, the thickened wall sometimes distorts one leaflet of the mitral (MI'tral) valve, causing it to leak. In over half the cases, the disease is hereditary. Close blood relatives (parents, children or siblings) of such persons often have enlarged septums, although they may have no symptoms. This disease is most common in young adults. In the other form of the disease, non-obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, the enlarged muscle doesn't obstruct blood flow. The symptoms of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy include shortness of breath on exertion, dizziness, fainting and angina pectoris (AN'jih-nah or an-JI'nah PEK'tor-is). (Angina is chest pain or discomfort caused by reduced blood supply to the heart muscle.) Some people have cardiac arrhythmias (ah-RITH'me-ahz). These are abnormal heart rhythms that in some cases can lead to sudden death. The obstruction to blood flow from the left ventricle increases the ventricle's work, and a heart murmur may be heard. How is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy treated? The usual treatment involves taking a drug known as a beta blocker (such as propranolol) or a calcium channel blocker. If a person has an arrhythmia, an antiarrhythmic (an"tih-ah-RITH'mik) drug may also be used. Surgical treatment of the obstructive form is possible in some cases if the drug treatment fails. Alcohol ablation is another nonsurgical treatment being developed for hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy. It involves injecting alcohol down a small branch of one of the heart arteries to the extra heart muscle. This destroys the extra heart muscle without having to cut it out surgically. People undergoing this procedure usually suffer chest pain during the alcohol injection. The alcohol can also disrupt normal heart rhythms and require the insertion of a pacemaker. Alcohol ablation is a relatively new procedure being performed at only a few specialized centers in the United States. It's too soon to know whether this treatment will result in long-term benefit. It's still considered experimental. What is restrictive cardiomyopathy? This is the least common type in the United States. The myocardium (mi"o-KAR'de-um) (heart muscle) of the ventricles becomes excessively "rigid," so it's harder for the ventricles to fill with blood between heartbeats. A person with restrictive cardiomyopathy often complains of being tired, may have swollen hands and feet, and may have difficulty breathing on exertion. This type of cardiomyopathy is usually due to another disease process. Related AHA publications:
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Myopathies are diseases of skeletal muscle which are not caused by nerve disorders. These diseases cause the skeletal or voluntary muscles to become weak or wasted.
There are many different types of myopathies, some of which are inherited, some inflammatory, and some caused by endocrine problems. Myopathies are rare and not usually fatal. Typically, effects are mild, largely causing muscle weakness and movement problems, and many are transitory. Only rarely will patients become dependent on a wheelchair. However, muscular dystrophy (which is technically a form of myopathy) is far more severe. Some types of this disease are fatal in early adulthood.
Myopathies are usually degenerative, but they are sometimes caused by drug side effects, chemical poisoning, or a chronic disorder of the immune system.
Among their many functions, genes are responsible for overseeing the production of proteins important in maintaining healthy cells. Muscle cells produce thousands of proteins. With each of the inherited myopathies, a genetic defect is linked to a lack of, or problem with, one of the proteins needed for normal muscle cell function.
There are several different kinds of myopathy caused by defective genes:
Most of these genetic myopathies are dominant, which means that a child needs to inherit only one copy of the defective gene from one parent in order to have the disease. The parent with the defective gene also has the disorder, and each of this parent's children has a 50% chance of also inheriting the disease. Male and female children are equally at risk.
However, one form of myotonia congenita and some forms of nemaline myopathy must be inherited from both parents, each of whom carry a recessive defective gene but who don't have symptoms of the disease. Each child of such parents has a 25% chance of inheriting both genes and showing signs of the disease, and a 50% chance of inheriting one defective gene from only one parent. If the child inherited just one defective gene, he or she would be a carrier but would not show signs of the disease.
A few forms of centronuclear myopathy develop primarily in males. Females who inherit the defective gene are usually carriers without symptoms, like their mothers, but they can pass on the disease to their sons. Mitochondrial myopathies are inherited through the mother, since sperm don't contain mitochondria. (Mitochondria play a key role in energy production in the body's cells.)
The major symptoms associated with the genetic myopathies include:
In some cases, myopathies can be caused by a malfunctioning gland (or glands), which produces either too much or too little of the chemical messengers called hormones. Hormones are carried by the blood and one of their many functions is to regulate muscle activity. Problems in producing hormones can lead to muscle weakness.
Hyperthyroid myopathy and hypothyroid myopathy affect different muscles in different ways. Hyperthyroid myopathy occurs when the thyroid gland produces too much thyroxine, leading to muscle weakness, some muscle wasting in hips and shoulders, and, sometimes, problems with eye muscles. The hypothyroid type occurs when too little hormone is produced, leading to stiffness, cramps, and weakness of arm and leg muscles.
Some myopathies are inflammatory, leading to inflamed, weakened muscles. Inflammation is a protective response of injured tissues characterized by redness, increased heat, swelling, and/or pain in the affected area. Examples of this type include polymyositis, dermatomyositis, and myositis ossificans.
Dermatomyositis is a disease of the connective tissue that also involves weak, tender, inflamed muscles. In fact, muscle tissue loss may be so severe that the person may be unable to walk. Skin inflammation is also present. The cause is unknown, but viral infection and antibiotics are associated with the condition. In some cases, dermatomyositis is associated with rheumatologic disease or cancer. Polymyositis involves inflammation of many muscles usually accompanied by deformity, swelling, sleeplessness, pain, sweating, and tension. It, too, may be associated with cancer. Myositis ossificans is a rare inherited disease in which muscle tissue is replaced by bone, beginning in childhood.
While considered to be a separate group of diseases, the muscular dystrophies also technically involve muscle wasting and can be described as myopathies. These relatively rare diseases appear during childhood and adolescence, and are caused by muscle destruction or degeneration. They are a group of genetic disorders caused by problems in the production of key proteins.
The forms of muscular dystrophy (MD) differ according to the way they are inherited, the age of onset, the muscles they affect, and how fast they progress. The most common type is Duchenne MD, affecting one or two in every 10,000 boys. Other types of MD include Becker's, myotonic dystrophy, limb-girdle MD, and facioscapulohumeral MD.
Early diagnosis of myopathy is important so that the best possible care can be provided as soon as possible. An experienced physician can diagnose a myopathy by evaluating a person's medical history and by performing a thorough physical exam. Diagnostic tests can help differentiate between the different types of myopathy, as well as between myopathy and other neuromuscular disorders. If the doctor suspects a genetic myopathy, a thorough family history will also be taken.
Diagnostic tests the doctor may order include:
Treatment depends on the specific type of myopathy the person has:
The prognosis for patients with myopathy depends on the type and severity of the individual disease. In most cases, the myopathy can be successfully treated and the patient returned to normal life.
Muscular dystrophy, however, is generally a much more serious condition. Duchenne's MD is usually fatal by the late teens; Becker's MD is less serious and may not be fatal until the 50s.
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