The heart is one of the vital organs of the body. The heart pumps blood to each and every organ of the body via a nerve network. If the functioning of the heart is imbalanced, it will affect the whole body system. Heart diseases may lead to many life-threatening diseases such as kidney failure, liver damage, valve problems, and many more.
Cardiomyopathy vs Heart Failure
The main difference between cardiomyopathy and heart failure is that the former is caused due to weakening of heart muscles and the latter is caused due to inefficiency in pumping the blood. Both of these diseases result in many other serious complications such as heart attack, cardiac arrest, blood clots, liver damage kidney failure, and many more.
Cardiomyopathy is a medical condition in which the heart muscles are weakened and causes difficulty in pumping blood throughout the body. In this condition, the heart muscles do not function properly and blood does not reach the body parts. This condition is categorized into three stages: dilated, hypertrophic and restrictive cardiomyopathy.
Heart failure may be defined as a condition in which the heart does not efficiently pump blood. This condition may lead to several disorders which may lead to the retention of body fluid in large amounts. Heart failure is categorized as a chronic condition that may lead to fatal conditions.
Comparison Table Between Cardiomyopathy and Heart Failure
| Parameters of Comparison | Cardiomyopathy | Heart Failure |
| Definition | Cardiomyopathy is a condition in which the heart muscles can not work efficiently. | Heart failure is a condition in which the heart can not either pump systolic blood or fill diastolic blood. |
| Causes | Cardiomyopathy is either hereditary or acquired type of heart disease. | Heart failure is an acquired and chronic type of heart disease. |
| Symptoms | The common symptoms of Cardiomyopathy are breathlessness, bloated stomach, dizziness, chest pain. | The common symptoms of Heart failure are breath shortness, fatigue, fast heartbeat, excess urination. |
| Types | There are three types of Cardiomyopathy; Dilated, Hypertrophic, Restrictive | There are three types of Heart failure; Left-sided heart failure, Right-sided heart failure, and Systolic heart failure |
| Complications | The common complications are heart failure, blood clots, cardiac arrest, valve-related problems. | The complications are kidney failure, problems related to a heart valve, liver malfunctioning, and heart rhythm rate |
What is Cardiomyopathy?
Cardiomyopathy is one of the serious conditions of heart disease. In this condition, a patient may suffer from improper functioning of cardiac muscles which leads to problems in blood circulation. The symptoms of cardiomyopathy are pain in the chest, dizziness, loss of appetite, abnormal heart rate, bloating, or deposition of fluid in the abdomen.
The cause of this condition can either be hereditary or acquired. Hereditary cardiomyopathy is passed to the patient from one of its parents. An acquired condition is caused due to high blood pressure sustained for a long time, cardiac tissue damage due to a heart attack, fluctuating heart rate. Cardiomyopathy is divided into three types namely dilated, hypertrophic, restrictive.
In Dilated cardiomyopathy, the left ventricle of the heart is dilated and loses its ability to pump blood efficiently. The middle-aged are most probable to get affected by this condition. The common cause of dilated cardiomyopathy is heart attack and coronary artery disease.
In Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, an irregular thickening is found on the cardiac muscles which makes it problematic to pump blood. Mainly the left chamber is affected and can also be hereditary. In restrictive cardiomyopathy, the cardiac muscles get stiff and less stretchable; hence are unable to fill the blood in the heart.
What is Heart Failure?
Heart Failure, commonly known as congestive heart failure mainly arises due to improper blood pumping. In this condition, the body fluids are stored in the lungs and hence cause a problem in breathing. In some critical cardiac diseases such as persistently high blood pressure and coronary artery disease, the cardiac muscles become stiffer and weaker.
Due to this cardiac muscles are unable to fill systolic and diastolic blood in the heart. Heart failure may be categorized as chronic and acute. The common symptoms of heart failure are shortness of breath, weakness, swelling. Heart failure can be categorized into mainly three types; Left-sided heart failure, Right-sided heart failure, and Systolic heart failure.
In Left-sided heart failure, body fluid accumulates in the lungs, which causes breath shortness. In Right-sided heart failure, body fluid deposits in the abdominal cavity and feet hence causing swelling. In Systolic heart failure, the heart’s left ventricle can not contract actively and efficiently, which indicates a pumping problem.
Heart failure may lead to many other fatal diseases such as liver damage, kidney failure, and heartbeat fluctuation. Patients can improve their conditions by maintaining a better lifestyle. Patients should eat healthy food and a balanced diet along with no smoking motive.
Main Difference Between Cardiomyopathy and Heart Failure
- Cardiomyopathy can be marked as the weakening of cardiac muscles which makes it difficult to pump. Cardiomyopathy finally leads to heart failure. Whereas heart failure can be defined as the condition when the heart cannot properly pump the blood and often fluid is collected in the lungs.
- The common causes of cardiomyopathy are damage of heart tissue due to heart attack, valve-related problems, deficiency of vital vitamins and minerals, granulomas. On the other hand, the common causes of heart failure are coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, improper heart valve functioning, myocarditis.
- Patients should avoid drinking alcohol and cocaine, balance the stress, take an adequate amount of sleep to reduce the risk of cardiomyopathy. Whereas patients should not consume tobacco alcohol and avoid obesity to reduce the risk of heart failure.
- The complications caused due to cardiomyopathy are heart failure, blood clots, cardiac arrest, valve-related problems. Also, the complications caused by heart failure are kidney failure, problems related to a heart valve, liver malfunctioning, and heart rhythm rate.
- Cardiomyopathy can either be hereditary or acquired. Whereas, heart failure is an acquired as well as chronic type of heart disease.
Conclusion
Cardiomyopathy is a result of weak cardiac muscles. Cardiomyopathy often leads to heart failure if left untreated. There are mainly three types of cardiomyopathy; dilated, hypertrophic, and restrictive. The treatment of this condition includes medications in mild cases and implantation of devices through surgery, and heart transplant in severe cases.
Heart failure may be a consequence of other serious diseases. Some of the complications caused by heart failure are kidney failure, heart valve diseases, liver damage, and heartbeat fluctuation. Due to heart failure, the blood does not reach the kidney efficiently, hence the risk of kidney failure increases.
References
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673609620237
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673612603973
- https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1161/circ.102.suppl_4.iv-14
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0002914985907891