Herbal Health

Dilated cardiomyopathy refers to overall enlargement (dilatation) of the heart chambers, especially the ventricles. Although this enlargement is a key part of dilated cardiomyopathy, it is not the initial problem but rather the heart’s own response to a weakness of heart muscle and poor pumping ability. The weakness of the heart muscle in this condition is generalized (“global”); all parts of the myocardium are affected about equally. Enlargement of the heart is the heart’s way of trying to compensate for the weakness of its muscle. This is called a compensatory mechanism.If the heart muscle is weak, it is unable to pump out the same portion of blood that it could at normal strength. But our bodies have an impressive capability of adjusting to changes. Rather than simply “accepting” the limitations of decreased pumping ability, the heart and other organs of the body undergo compensatory changes to try to maximize their efforts.Think of the heart chambers expanding and contracting like a soft plastic bottle being squeezed while being held underwater. It your grip has become weakened you cannot squeeze very much of the water out. Let’s say that at normal strength you could squeeze out60 percent of the water that flowed into the bottle when you let it exp under water. Similarly, a heart may pump out 60 percent of the blood it contained at the end of diastole.*87\252\8*