DNA is an amazing thing. It is passed on from our parents and acts as the blueprint to our bodies teaching our cells how to replicate and what traits we will possess. We get our dad’s brilliant blue eyes, our mom’s smile, but unfortunately, with the good also can come the not so good.

This is why our physicians always ask our medical history but also ask questions about the history of our parents and even aunts, uncles, and grandparents. What may be present in a family can be a hereditary gene being potentially passed down generationally. If there is a rouge gene present it’s a 50/50 shot that it will be passed down.

This holds especially true for heart conditions. ICC (inherited Cardiac Conditions) is the umbrella term covering all relatively rare heart diseases which are genetic in nature. These conditions may or may not present symptomatically and often people are not aware anything is wrong until they experience a SCD Sudden Cardiac Death.

The main signs of cardiac issues are palpitations and fainting.

Different inherited heart conditions

Familial cardiomyopathies

• Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM)
• idiopathic or familial Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM)
• Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC)
• restrictive cardiomyopathy

Familial arrhythmias 

• Long QT syndrome (LQTS)
• Brugada syndrome
• Catecholaminergic Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia (CPVT)
• Short QT Syndrome (SQTS)
• Marfan syndrome
• Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome (SADS)

Treatments

Different conditions require different treatments or interventions, which include:

• Lifestyle changes (adding exercise and changing your diet and habits)
• Medications
• implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs)
• heart transplantation (in rare cases)

The best advice is to listen to your body and if something feels off go get it checked out. Visit us at Tampa Cardiovascular Associates of Tampa Bay, Florida. www.tampacardio.com 813-975-2800.