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Eat a well-balanced and nutritious diet, exercise to improve heart fitness, stop smoking, and minimize alcohol consumption.If you eliminate lifestyle habits that can contribute to dilated cardiomyopathy, you may prevent or minimize effects of the disease:

1.Exercise to improve heart fitness
2.Maintain a healthy weight.
3.Eat a healthy diet.
4.Don’t use cocaine or other illicit drugs.
5.Don’t drink alcohol, or drink in moderation.
6.Stop smoking

Management of dilated cardiomyopathy involves treating the underlying disorder such as a curable infection or nutritional deficiency. For example, in the case of heart muscle disease caused by alcohol consumption, treatment entails total abstinence. But in most cases the cause is unknown, so treatment focuses on relieving symptoms and improving the function of the injured heart chambers.

Patients receive medications that enhance the capacity of the heart muscle. The few drugs that produce this effect work indirectly by increasing the level of calcium inside the heart cells. (Calcium initiates heart muscle contractions). Digitalis and its derivatives such as digoxin, the oldest and best known of such drugs, are usually administered orally but may be given by an intravenous injection. More potent cardiac stimulants such as dobutamine (Dobutex), dopamine (Intropin), and amrinone (Inocor) are reserved for hospital use.

Management of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy involves limiting stressful physical activity and the use of drugs to relieve symptoms. Traditionally, drugs called beta blockers have been used to prevent a rapid heartbeat and decrease the excessive force of contractions. Antiarrhythmic drugs are often prescribed to treat abnormal heart rhythms.

In the past decade, calcium channel blockers, particularly verapamil (Calan), have been shown to be especially effective for relief of symptoms. Like beta blockers, calcium antagonists reduce the force of the heart’s contractions, but they also increase the flexibility of the bulky heart chambers. These combined effects increase the efficiency of pumping and reduce congestion.