How To Effectively Treat Myocarditis

Myocarditis is a disease that causes inflammation of the myocardium or the heart muscle. A viral infection causes most cases of myocarditis, but bacterial infections, cancer, parasites, fungi, medications, illegal drugs, radiation, and exposure to chemicals can also cause the disease. Mild cases and early-stage myocarditis often produces no noticeable symptoms. In cases where symptoms do occur, they commonly include shortness of breath, lower extremity swelling, fatigue, chest pain, and arrhythmia. Untreated myocarditis can cause permanent damage to the heart muscle that results in life-threatening complications such as a heart attack, stroke, heart failure, arrhythmias, and sudden cardiac death. Myocarditis can be diagnosed with the use of an MRI, chest x-ray, electrocardiogram, echocardiogram, blood tests, or an endomyocardial biopsy. A patient's recommended treatment for myocarditis is highly dependent on the underlying cause. That said, there are some common options for treating myocarditis. Examine them now.

Avoid Competitive Sports

Any patient diagnosed with myocarditis should avoid competitive sports for a minimum of six months. The reason behind this is most cases of myocarditis are the result of some type of infection. When a foreign organism invades the muscle tissues of the heart, the immune system responds to the area to try and fight off the organism. However, the immune system's response alone is not enough to help the body fight off the heart muscle infection. The virus, bacteria, parasite, or fungi that caused the infection will continue to grow and cause further inflammation if the immune system did not successfully fight off. Even with the use of antiviral medications or antibiotics, general rest will be required for the body to fight against and eradicate the underlying infection. Playing competitive sports will use a large part of the body's energy supply that is needed to carry out healing processes. When the calories and nutrient supplies in the body are used up by physical activities, there is not enough of them left to help the body heal itself. In addition, participation in competitive sports can add to the elevated risk of dangerous arrhythmias in a patient affected by myocarditis.

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