Weak Heart Definition, Reason, Symptoms, Treatment & Prevention
Understanding
Weak heart–or in the medical language it is called cardiomyopathy–is a disease that attacks the heart muscle.
Cardiac muscle can thicken, harden, thin, or fill with substances the body produces that are not supposed to be there.
In fact, the heart muscle can turn into scar tissue, although cases like this are very rare.
Now, as the disease progresses, cardiomyopathy can make the heart organ even weaker. This will also affect the performance of the heart in pumping blood to all parts of the body.
This can lead to various complications, such as heart rhythm disturbances, heart valve disorders, and heart failure.
Cardiomyopathy is divided into several main types, which include:
- Dilatation, which is a condition when one of the heart’s pumping chambers (ventricles) weakens and enlarges. Dilatation can be inherited or complicated by coronary artery disease. This type is the most frequently found.
- Hypertrophy is a condition when the heart muscle thickens and enlarges. Hypertrophy often occurs in childhood or early adolescence and can cause sudden death during adolescence or young adulthood.
The condition is often inherited and has no symptoms. Therefore, family history is important.
- Arrhythmogenic, which causes an irregular heartbeat. This condition is very rare, but it is the leading cause of sudden death in young people and athletes.
- This type of heart failure occurs when the right ventricle’s normal muscle tissue is replaced with fatty or scar tissue. Arrhythmogenic is often inherited.
- Restriction, a condition in which the heart muscle is stiff or due to scar tissue, or both. This condition can occur together with amyloidosis or hemochromatosis, and other conditions.
Symptom
It should be noted that some people who have a weak heart never have symptoms. However, in other people the characteristics of a weak heart that can appear, namely:
- Difficulty breathing
- Easily tired
- Irregular heartbeat
- pounding
- Dizzy
- Faint
- Chest pain, especially after physical activity or a heavy meal
- High blood pressure
- Cough when lying down
- Swelling of the legs, abdomen and veins in the neck
In children, symptoms of heart failure can include:
Reason
Weak heart disease can occur because it is brought from birth ( acquired ), for example as a result of certain diseases or conditions.
In addition, this heart disorder can also occur because it is passed down through certain genes from parents ( inherited ). However, often the cause of heart failure is unknown.
Risk Factors
Certain conditions or diseases that can increase the risk of heart failure:
- Family history of cardiomyopathy, heart failure, or sudden cardiac arrest
- Connective tissue diseases and other types of autoimmune diseases
- Coronary heart disease or heart attack
- Diseases that can damage the heart, such as hemochromatosis, sarcoidosis, or amyloidosis
- Chronic hypertension
- Endocrine diseases, including thyroid disorders and diabetes
- Infection of the heart muscle
- Heart valve disorders
- Long-term alcohol consumption or cocaine abuse
- Muscular disorders such as muscular dystrophy
- Pregnancy
Diagnosis
The doctor will establish a weak heart diagnosis through several steps.
Starting from collecting patient information, namely through medical interviews to find out symptoms and family history, to physical examinations, especially cardiac examinations.
Apart from that, doctors often ask patients to carry out supporting examinations, such as echocardiography. This ultrasound examination can assess the structure and function of the heart.
Treatment
Weak heart disease can not be cured but can be controlled. The goals of cardiomyopathy treatment in general are:
- Overcome conditions that cause heart failure
- Control symptoms
- Slows the course of the disease
- Prevent the condition from worsening
- Reducing complications from weak heart and the risk of cardiac arrest
In addition, several surgical procedures can also be performed as a way to treat weak heart, such as:
- Septal myectomy, namely the removal of an enlarged heart septum so that it will help improve blood flow
- Surgically implanted device, which is a procedure to implant a device to help the heart work, for example a pacemaker
- Heart transplant, which is an operation to replace a sick patient’s heart with a healthy organ from another person
The effects of a weak heart can also be reduced by making lifestyle changes, such as:
- Avoid cigarettes
- Reducing salt consumption (salt attracts fluids so it can collect in the body and make the heart work harder)
- Avoid foods high in cholesterol
- Cut down on alcohol
- Do light to moderate activities, such as walking, cycling, stretching exercises, and other forms of activity
- The choice of activities can also be adjusted to the preferences of each individual. However, pay attention that all forms of activity are maintained so as not to cause difficulty breathing or excessive fatigue after these activities
Meanwhile, here are some types of weak heart drugs that doctors may prescribe.
- Antihypertensive
- Medication to reduce heart rate
- Antiarrhythmics to treat heart rhythm abnormalities
- Medication to maintain electrolyte balance
- Diuretics, to help remove excess fluid in the body
- Anticoagulants to prevent blood clots from forming, also known as blood thinners
- Anti-inflammatory
Prevention
Efforts to prevent heart failure depend on the causative factors. Weak heart caused by hereditary factors, can not be prevented.
However, heart failure caused by an unhealthy lifestyle can be prevented by adopting a healthy lifestyle.
Some things that can be done as an effort to prevent heart failure are:
- If the heart is weak due to obesity, sufferers need to lose weight
- Exercise regularly
- Stop bad habits like smoking and alcohol consumption
- Get enough rest
- Avoid stress
Complications
Weak heart disease that is not handled properly can be at risk of complications such as:
- Heart failure
- Sudden cardiac arrest
When to See a Doctor?
Check yourself immediately if you feel symptoms such as:
- Difficulty breathing
- Recent or unusual tiredness
- Swelling of the abdomen, legs or neck
- Chest pain, especially after exertion or a heavy meal
- Fainting on activity
- Irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia)