What is cardiomyopathy?what are its different types?

Dilated cardiomyopathy. This is the most common form of cardiomyopathy. In this disorder, the left ventricle 鈥?your heart's main pumping chamber 鈥?becomes enlarged (dilated) and its pumping ability becomes less forceful. Although this type can affect people of all ages, it occurs most often in middle-aged people, with an incidence greater among men than women. Some people with dilated cardiomyopathy may have inherited the condition.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. This type involves abnormal growth or thickening of your heart muscle, particularly affecting the muscle of the left ventricle. As thickening occurs, the heart tends to stiffen and the size of the pumping chamber may shrink, interfering with your heart's ability to deliver blood to your body. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy can develop at any age, but the condition tends to be more severe among those diagnosed during childhood. Researchers have identified abnormal genes that predispose people to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Most affected people have a family history of the disease.

Restrictive cardiomyopathy. The heart muscle in people with restrictive cardiomyopathy becomes rigid and less elastic, interfering with the expansion and filling of the heart's ventricles with blood between heartbeats or contractions. While restrictive cardiomyopathy can occur at any age, it tends to affect older people most often. It's much less common than the other types of cardiomyopathy. Restrictive cardiomyopathy can occur for no known reason (idiopathic) or may result from diseases elsewhere in the body that affect the heart. One example is amyloidosis, a rare condition in which abnormal proteins present in the blood are deposited into the heart.

In most people, the cause of cardiomyopathy is unknown. In some people, however, doctors are able to identify a cause or contributing factors, including some that affect the heart and cardiovascular system. For example, any of the following conditions may cause or contribute to a dilated and poorly functioning heart:

Sustained high blood pressure
Heart valve problems
Heart tissue damage from a previous heart attack
Chronic rapid heart rate
Metabolic disorders, such as thyroid disease or diabetes
Nutritional deficiencies of essential vitamins and minerals, such as thiamin (vitamin B-1), selenium, calcium and magnesium
Pregnancy
Excessive use of alcohol over many years
Abuse of cocaine or antidepressant medications, such as tricyclic antidepressants
Use of some chemotherapy drugs to treat cancer
Certain viral infections, which may injure the heart and trigger cardiomyopathy
Hemochromatosis is a disorder in which your body doesn't properly metabolize iron, causing the accumulation of iron in your heart muscle. This can lead to a weakening of the heart muscle, resulting in the appearance of dilated cardiomyopathy.

I hope this helps. Good luck.

It is difficult to provide an adequate explanation in such limited space. If you email me at johnerussomd@jhu.edu I will provide you with a detailed answer. Cardiomyopathy may be congenital or acquired. Acquired CM is typically thought of as 'ischemic'. CM represents 'slippage' of the myocytes (muscle cells) resulting in an increase in the size of the chamber but with a 'thinner' muscle the output of blood ejected with each heart beat is decreased - this is of course a simplification.

It is the inflamation of the heart muscle. There are 3 types:
Dilated (congestive)
Hypertrophic
restrictive
You can read about each kind by going to the web site i went to. once you get there type in cardiomyopathy in the search area
Hope it helps