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Lifestyle and home remedies

By Mayo Clinic staff

Your doctor may recommend adopting the following lifestyle changes to help you manage cardiomyopathy:

  • Quit smoking.
  • Lose excess weight.
  • Eat a low-salt diet (less than 2,300 milligrams a day).
  • Get modest exercise, after discussing with your doctor the most appropriate program of physical activity.
  • Eliminate or minimize the amount of alcohol you drink. Specific recommendations will depend on the type of cardiomyopathy you have.
References
  1. Cardiomyopathy. American Heart Association. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4468. Accessed Jan. 20, 2010.
  2. Cardiomyopathy. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/cm/cm_all.html. Accessed Jan. 20, 2010.
  3. Maron BJ, et al. Contemporary definitions and classification of the cardiomyopathies: An American Heart Association scientific statement from the Council on Clinical Cardiology, Heart Failure and Transplantation Committee; Quality of Care and Outcomes Research and Functional Genomics and Translational Biology Interdisciplinary Working Groups; and Council on Epidemiology and Prevention. Circulation. 2006;113:1807.
  4. Hare JM. The dilated, restrictive and infiltrative cardiomyopathies. In Libby P. Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine. 8th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/book/player/book.do?method=display&type=bookPage&decorator=header&eid=4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-4106-1..50067-4&uniq=151686941&isbn=978-1-4160-4106-1&sid=867495152#lpState=open&lpTab=contentsTab&content=4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-4106-1..X5001-8--TOP%3Bfrom%3Dcontent%3Bisbn%3D978-1-4160-4106-1%3Btype%3DbookHome. Accessed July 14, 2009.
  5. Cooper LT. Definition and classification of the cardiomyopathies. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Jan. 20, 2010.
  6. Heart failure. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/Hf/HF_All.html. Accessed Jan. 20, 2010.
  7. Restrictive cardiomyopathy. American Heart Association. http://www.americanheart.org/downloadable/heart/1181919434962Restrictive%20Cardiomyopathy_2007.pdf. Accessed Jan. 20, 2010.
  8. Sorajja P, et al. Outcome of alcohol septal ablation for obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Circulation. 2008;118:131.
  9. Podrid PJ, et al. Secondary and primary prevention of sudden cardiac death in heart failure and cardiomyopathies. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Jan. 20, 2010.
DS00519 March 5, 2010

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