The heart muscles become enlarged in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. In fact, the word ‘hypertrophic’ itself literally means enlargement. There is a thickening of the walls of the heart, and this affects the heart’s proper functioning.

The condition is somewhat rare, and affects just around 2 in 500 people, but it can affect men and women of all ages. Most cases tend to be inherited, but cases of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy have been known to occur where there is no family history of the disease. Those who suffer from this disease are at greater risk for sudden cardiac death – where the heart suddenly stops beating.

When the heart muscles are being strained by heart valves (that are not functioning properly), or by high blood pressure, they can enlarge, this makes the heart walls thicker, and able to beat stronger. However, this might result in an obstruction in the blood flow, usually when the strain subsides, the heart returns to its normal size, but if there is inappropriate thickening of the heart muscles (caused due to specific genes), then this causes hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. A whopping 60 to 70 percent of people develop hypertrophic cardiomyopathy by inheriting a specific gene that makes them more prone to the disease.