Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Essay

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Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy: Effects on Young Athletes
Alyssa Trimm
130568370
Wilfrid Laurier University
Dr. Kalmar
KP 122 Section A

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a genetic disease of the heart, making the cardiac muscle is thick and strong. The thick muscle causes a decrease in cavity size, forcing the heart to pump less blood. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is one of the primary causes of sudden death as the prevention of blood flow causes cardiac arrest. More successful research is being conducted on HCM, including research on the genetics associated and the heredity of the genes. Unfortunately this disorder effects many young athletes due to their increased stresses of training on their heart. However, despite the use of new technology such as the electrocardiogram and transthoracic echocardiogram, the strategies are limited, restricting new answers.
This condition is said to start within the sacromeric proteins, as past studies has called this disorder ‘the disease of the sacromere’ 6. The muscle around the left ventricle is so strong that is does not relax enough after contraction to regenerate blood back into the heart 5. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy was discovered in approximately 50% of young individuals who died suddenly 5. A recent study observed the genes associated with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Within 20 sacromere and myofilament related genes, there were 1400 mutations noted in HCM 6. The mutations within the sacromere prevent normal shortening that causes the muscle to contract stronger, reducing relaxation. However, all the mutated genes are not proven to cause hypertrophy. The MYH7 gene seems to be the most frequent as 25-35% of patients with mild or severe HCM had this gene present 6. Despit...

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