Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
Also known as HCM, Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy is a cardiac disease that causes the ventricles of the heart to become abnormally thick and stiff. When the ventricles become thick and stiff, it causes them to not be able to pump enough blood, which can cause a blood as well as oxygen deprivation to the rest of the body. HCM can be genetically inherited as well as diseases like diabetes and thyroid diseases can make the odds of HCM contraction higher. HCM can cause sudden death as a result of fatal ventricular arrhythmias.
In 1958, the first contemporary account of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy was made by Dr. Robert Donald Teare, a pathologist at St. George’s hospital in London. He noted that 8 patients between the
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A few ways hypertrophic cardiomyopathy can be diagnosed is by an echocardiogram which is an ultrasound of the heart that uses the ultrasound waves to create a visual picture of the heart, a radionuclide ventriculography test, which is a form of nuclear imaging where a gamma camera is used to create an image following the injection of a radioactive material, an EKG which stands for electrocardiogram, which is a noninvasive procedure where electrodes are placed on the skin and are connected in a specific order to a machine that when turned on measure the electrical activity all over the heart, and blood tests, urine tests, among others. Other ways you can be tested for HCM include a cardiac MRI, a CT scan, cardiac catheterization and a myocardial biopsy.
Did you know that 1 in 500 people have hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, HCM? HCM has no cure, but can be relieved of symptoms by taking medications such as blood thinners, heart medication, and blood pressure medicine. HCM is also known under many other names such as Idiopathic Hypertrophic Subaortic Stenosis (IHSS), Asymmetric Septal Hypertrophy (ASH), Hypertrophic Nonobstructive Cardiomyopathy (HNC), Hypertrophic Obstructive Cardiomyopathy (HOC), and Familial Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (FHC). HCM is caused by more than 1400 mutations in 11 or more genes encoding proteins of the cardiac