Hypertrophic
Cardiomyopathy is a genetic mutation of the sarcomere protein
gene in the striation filaments of the heart muscle that causes
cell over replication and growth that changes the structure of
the heart as well as the way blood flows through it, resulting
in poor blood flow, damage to the valves and tissues of the
heart and dangerous arrhythmias.
This cell
growth causes scar tissue in cells that are already genetically
in disarray instead of aligned in the usual neat and orderly
fashion, which compromises the conduction of normal electric
impulses, while at the same time, scar tissue also lacks
suppleness and lowers the heart's pumping ability. It's
the combination of these factors such as poor conduction coupled
with the arrhythmias and organ damage that can cause sudden
cardiac death or the need for a new heart altogether.
The first
symptom many people with HCM have is their sudden death, often
during athletic activity. Although I
was very athletically active as a young adult, I managed to
avoid sudden death somehow. The formula for disaster is a
complex one but seems to mostly involve electrolyte balance at
any given moment coupled with the severity of the cell disarray
and associated scar tissue in the thickened walls and the
ability of the electrical impulse to pass through reliably.
This is an electrical problem and it's my type of HCM.
There's an
obstructive form of HCM where the thickness of walls changes the
way blood flows through to such an extent that the septum often
needs to be surgically thinned to improve function. I'd
call this the plumbing problem HCM and it's not the kind I
have.
