Cardiomyopathy refers to diseases of the heart muscle. The heart becomes less able to pump blood throughout the body and cannot maintain a normal electrical rhythm. The result can be heart failure or irregular heartbeats called an arrhythmia.

Cardiomyopathy is dangerous because it often goes unrecognized and untreated. It is different from other heart problems because it often affects younger people. There are four main types of cardiomyopathy — hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), Arrhythmogenic, Restrictive — and about one in every 500 people have some form of the disease.