Definitions
The following are my paraphrased definitions which came from many sources including dictionaries, websites, and knowledge gained over the last five years. Please refer to the Merck manual for comparable definitions.
Cardiomyopathy
The measurable deterioration for any reason of the ability of the heart muscle to contract, usually leading to heart failure.
Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
Causes a thickening of the heart’s walls which prevents blood from flowing through your heart. Most often, it is an inherited disease, but sometimes the cause is not clear.
Dilated Cardiomyopathy
The most common form of cardiomyopathy. Also called congestive cardiomyopathy, it affects the chambers of the heart by weakening its walls.
Restrictive Cardiomyopathy
Rare in the United States, it restricts the heart from stretching properly, which limits the amount of blood that can fill the heart’s chambers.
Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Dysplasia (ARVD)
A rare form of cardiomyopathy, occurs when the heart muscle tissue in the right ventricle dies and is replaced by scar tissue.
Peripartum Cardiomyopathy
A form of dilated cardiomyopathy that occurs during or after pregnancy.
Alcoholic Cardiomyopathy
This is due to drinking too much alcohol over a long period of time, which can weaken your heart so it can no longer pump blood efficiently. The heart becomes enlarged making it a form of dilated cardiomyopathy.
Ischemic Cardiomyopathy
This occurs when your heart can no longer pump blood to the rest of your body due to coronary artery disease. Blood vessels to the heart muscle narrow and become blocked. This deprives the heart muscle of oxygen.
Noncompaction or Spongiform Cardiomyopathy
A rare disease present at birth. It results from abnormal development of the heart muscle in the womb. Diagnosis may occur at any stage of life.
Pediatric Cardiomyopathy
When cardiomyopathy affects a child.
Idiopathic Cardiomyopathy
No known cause.
Electrocardiogram (EKG)
The process of recording the electrical activity of the heart over a period of time using electrodes placed on a patient’s body. The electrodes detect the tiny electrical changes on the skin that arise from the heart muscle depolarizing during each heartbeat.
Left Ventricle
The chamber on the left side of the heart that receives the arterial blood from the left atrium and contracts to force it into the aorta.
Sudden Cardiac Arrest
Sudden unexpected loss of heart function, breathing and consciousness. It usually results from an electrical disturbance in a person’s heart that disrupts the pumping action, stopping blood flow to the rest of the body.
Pediatric Cardiologist
A pediatrician who has received extensive training in diagnosing and treating children’s cardiac problems. Evaluation and treatment may begin before birth since heart problems can now be detected that early.
Pediatric Intensive Care (PICU)
A unit that has the capability of providing definitive care for a wide range of complex, progressive, rapidly changing, medical, surgical and traumatic disorders, requiring a multidisciplinary approach to care for patients between 37 weeks gestation and those under 21 years of age.
Congestive Heart Failure (CHF)
Occurs as a result of impaired pumping capability of the heart that is not keeping up with the metabolic needs of body tissues and organs. It is associated with abnormal retention of water and sodium. CHF results in an inadequate supply of blood and oxygen to the body cells.
Heart Palpitations
A feeling that a person gets when their heart is beating too hard or too fast, skipping a beat, or fluttering. A person can feel it in their chest, throat, or neck. It can be bothersome or frightening. Usually it is not serious or harmful and will go away on its own. However, if it does become persistent, you should seek medical advice from a cardiologist.
Atrial Fibrillation (A-Fib or AF)
A quivering or irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia) that can lead to blood clots, stroke, heart failure, and other related complications. Some people refer to A-fib as a quivering heart. An estimated 2.7 million Americans are living with AF.
Heart Transplant
Surgery to remove a person’s diseased heart and replace it with a healthy heart from a deceased organ donor. Most heart transplants are done on patients who have end-stage heart failure.
Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD)
A mechanical pump that is implanted inside a person’s chest to help a weakened heart pump blood throughout the body. It does not replace the heart, it just helps it do its job. It is often referred to as a “bridge to transplant.”
Orthomolecular Medicine
A form of alternative medicine aimed at maintaining health through nutritional supplementation and is based on the idea that there is an optimum nutritional environment in the body and that diseases reflect deficiencies in this environment. An Orthomolecular Therapist practices this type of alternative medicine.
D – ribose
A simple sugar produced in the body that is used by all living cells. It is part of the building blocks that form DNA and RNA molecules, and is one of the crucial ingredients in the production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). This is the body’s primary energy-carrying molecule that assists in the conversion of nutrients into useable energy, which enables the body to function.
Genetic Testing
A type of medical test that identifies changes in chromosomes, genes, or proteins. The result of a genetic test can confirm or rule out a suspected genetic condition or help determine a person’s chance of developing or passing on a genetic disorder to their child.
Geneticist
Someone who specializes in the science of genetics.
Arrhythmias
A condition in which the heart beats with an irregular or abnormal rhythm.
Magnesium
A mineral that is crucial to the body’s function. It helps keep blood pressure normal, bones strong, and the heart rhythm steady.
RBC Magnesium Test
A test used to evaluate magnesium levels in the red blood cells.
Magnesium Orotate
Magnesium salt bound to orotic acid. It is the most easily absorbable form of magnesium and passes easily through the cells in the body, especially when compared with other types of magnesium.
Transdermal Magnesium
A type of magnesium that is rubbed on the body, usually in the form of magnesium oil. It is highly concentrated and is a liquid form of magnesium chloride. It is rapidly absorbed through the skin and can rapidly elevate low or depleted levels of magnesium in the body.
Pacemaker
A small device placed in the chest or abdomen to help control abnormal heart rhythms. It uses low-energy electrical pulses to prompt the heart to beat at a normal rate. Pacemakers are used to treat arrhythmias.
Defibrillator
Also called an implantable cardioverter defibrillator or ICD. This is an apparatus used to control heart fibrillation by application of an electrical current to the chest or wall of the heart.
Potassium Chloride
This medication is a mineral supplement used to treat or prevent low amounts of potassium in the blood. A normal level of potassium in the blood is important because it helps keep the cells, kidneys, heart, muscles, and nerves working properly. Some conditions that can lower the potassium levels include severe diarrhea, vomiting, hormone problems or taking diuretics.
Diuretics
Commonly known as “water pills”, these help your body get rid of unneeded water and salt through the urine. Getting rid of excess salt and fluid helps lower blood pressure and can make it easier for your heart to pump.
Potassium
A mineral that helps your muscles contract, helps regulate fluids and mineral balance in and out of body cells and helps maintain normal blood pressure by blunting the effect of sodium.
Blood Thinner
This is recommended for people with some kind of heart or blood vessel disease, poor blood flow to the brain, atrial fibrillation, heart valve surgery, or congenital heart defects. They reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke by reducing the formation of blood clots in your arteries and veins.
Ischemic Stroke
This occurs as a result of an obstruction within a blood vessel supplying blood to the brain. It accounts for 87 percent of all stroke cases.
Gastrostomy Tube (G-tube)
This is a tube inserted through the abdomen that delivers nutrition directly to the stomach. There is also a jejunostomy tube (J-tube) which by-passes the stomach and goes into the second part of the small intestines.
Urinary Tract Infection (UTI)
An infection of any part of the urinary system. They are caused when microbes manage to get past the body’s natural defenses.
Colloidal Silver
Consists of silver atoms suspended in distilled ion-less water. The particles of silver are small enough to penetrate on a cellular level and destroy pathogens of all types including bacteria, fungal spores, parasites, and viruses. It helps promote rapid healing of the tissues infected or destroyed. Most burn centers use various forms of silver and silver soaked bandaging for burn victims.
Ionic Silver
A silver ion is an atom of silver that is missing one electron. Take away one electron from a silver atom and you get a silver ion which is water soluble. In its ionic form, silver is highly reactive with other elements which means it will readily combine to form compounds. Ingestion of highly concentrated forms of ionic silver (having a silver concentration of 100 parts per million and above) could potentially cause a condition called argyria, a permanent discoloration of the skin.
Feeding Tube Formula
The liquid formula chosen to place in a patients feeding tube in order to sustain life.
Liquid Hope
The world’s first shelf stable organic whole foods feeding tube formula and oral meal replacement.
Cranberry Concentrate
Known as a kidney superfood, it delivers antioxidants and a high bioactivity. May aid in fighting urinary tract infections.
MagO7
The ultimate digestive system cleanser. It is time released to ensure provision of an adequate amount of oxygen, slowly, for better utilization. It may have a stool softening effect.
Rehabilitation
To bring someone back to a normal, healthy condition after an illness, injury, drug problem, etc.
Integrative Cardiologist
One who studies integrative medicine as related to the heart. This is an approach to care that puts the patient at the center and addresses the full range of physical, emotional, mental, social, spiritual and environmental influences that affect a person’s health.
Fluid Overload
This occurs when the circulating volume in the body is excessive or more than the heart can effectively cope with. This results in heart failure, which usually manifests as pulmonary edema and peripheral edema.
Potassium Orotate
This is potassium bound to orotic acid. Orotic acid is neutrally charged and passes easily through cell membranes. As the orotic acid is metabolized, the potassium is released. This delivers the potassium directly into the cells where your body needs it.
Potassium Ion Meter
A meter used for quick measurements of potassium ions using a selective membrane. It works with the smallest of samples.
Food Grade Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2)
H2O2 is an effective, natural disinfectant. As the substance is utilized it oxidizes, eliminating toxins and any other pathogens in the body. The liquid is considered the world’s safest sanitizer as it functions to cleanse by oxidation. It fights infection, eliminates toxins, cures bacteria and viruses, and neutralizes germs.
Essential Oils
A natural oil typically obtained by distillation and having the characteristic fragrance of the plant or other source from which it is extracted.
Paralysis
The loss of the ability to move (and sometimes to feel anything) in part or most of the body, typically as a result of illness, poison, or injury.
Myoelectric Arm Orthosis
A portable, lightweight, functional arm brace that restores movement to a weakened arm as a result of neuromuscular damage. It incorporates a platform technology of non-invasive myoelectric sensing in a customized, wearable brace that enables a person to initiate and control their own arm motion. This brace does not use electrical stimulation but relies on the user’s own muscle signal to move their arm. It can be used as an assistive Orthosis for performing daily living activities in the home.
EMG Sensing Technology
A type of technology used in the Myoelectric Arm Orthosis. When the user tries to bend the arm, sensors in the brace detect the weak muscle signal, which activates the motor to move the arm in the desired direction.
Constraint – Induced Movement Therapy (CIMT)
A form of rehabilitation therapy that improves upper extremity function in stroke and other central nervous system damage victims by increasing the use of their affected upper limb.
Stem Cell Therapy
The use of stem cells to treat or prevent a disease or condition.
Ventricular Tachycardia
A type of tachycardia, or a rapid heartbeat that arises from improper electrical activity of the heart presenting as a rapid heart rhythm, that starts in the bottom chambers of the heart, called the ventricles.