Cardiomyopathy Treatment: Understanding Types & Options

Four primary types of cardiomyopathy affect people around the world. They have distinct causes such as heredity, infection or damage due to heart attack. All can lead to serious consequences, including death, and should be treated without delay.

Things You'll Need

• Anti-coagulants
• Calcium channel blockers or beta blockers
• Corticosteroids

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Instructions

Begin to Treat Cardiomyopathy at Home

• 1

  Get diagnosed with cardiomyopathy from a licensed professional before you stress yourself out with worry. Even when you are diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, it can sometimes be mild enough where no treatment is needed, and has been known to go away on its own.

• 2

  Know that simply changing your lifestyle and habits can have a profound affect on your health, especially where heart disease is concerned. It is better to change your lifestyle a little to prevent cardiomyopathy in the first place than it is to have to treat it later.

• 3

  Eat right and get plenty of cardiovascular exercise. Decreasing your fat and cholesterol intake while giving your heart muscles the exercise they need can dramatically improve your total health and well being. Learn how to eat for a healthy heart with the help of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (see Resources below).

• 4

  Quit smoking, get plenty of rest and reduce your stress levels.

Treat Cardiomyopathy with Medication or Surgery

• 5

  Be aware that even if you do eat right and exericse, sometimes heredity is the strongest contributing factor to heart disease. In these cases, lifestyle changes will need to be supplemented with prescription drugs and, in some cases, surgery.

• 6

  Remember that your doctor will have to diagnose the specific type of cardiomyopathy you have in order to prescribe the correct drug.

• 7

  Slow a rapid beat with calcium channel blockers or beta-blockers.

• 8

  Prevent blood from clotting with anti-coagulants.

• 9

  Use corticosteroids when heart muscles are inflamed.

• 10

  Keep your heart beating regularly with any one of a number of medications designed to treat arrhythmia.

• 11

  Consider surgery as an option with the advice of your doctor.

• 12

  Tell your doctor if you're taking any other prescription medications, over-the-counter drugs or dietary supplements to avoid potential interactions.