Physical Activity, Cardiomyopathy and Your Child

Play and Sports Are Still Possible

(LifeWire) - Most parents struggle with the temptation to overprotect their children and when a child has a chronic medical condition, that challenge looms larger. But even children diagnosed with an enlarged heart, or cardiomyopathy, can benefit from exercise -- not just physically, but socially and emotionally, too.

The type and severity of the child's cardiomyopathy -- and, most of all, the advice of your cardiologist -- will determine the intensity level of the activities. The key for all families, though, is not to let fear trump fun.

Each of the four distinct kinds of cardiomyopathy -- dilated, hypertrophic, restrictive and arrhythmogenic right ventricular -- is a chronic heart muscle disease with a wide range of symptoms, treatments and exercise guidelines.

Exercise: How Much, What kind?

Each child's diagnosis is so individual that some can continue in competitive sports, others should stick to non-competitive pursuits and a few will need to avoid all strenuous activities. Only your cardiologist can say for sure what's best for your child.

Carolyn Croft's* daughter Haley* was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy in April 2000 when she was 22 months old. Because the dilated form rarely carries a risk of sudden death from overexertion, and Haley's case was mild at the time of diagnosis, her cardiologist advised Croft to let Haley set her own limits in physical activity.

"When she felt she needed breaks she would take them," says Croft, who lives in Richmond, Va.

Now that she's 10, Haley's condition has progressed to the high end of moderate and she may eventually be a candidate for a heart transplant. While her activities are more limited, especially in hot weather, she still enjoys swimming, swinging and going down the playground slide.

Exercise can make a child stronger and increase his or her energy level. In most cases, it has no ill effect on the heart itself, says Dr. Daphne Hsu, chief of pediatric cardiology at Children's Hospital at Montefiore in New York City.

"Exercise won't make cardiomyopathy better or worse," says Hsu.

The goal for parents is to make their children's lives as normal as possible, Hsu says. Every parent -- even those whose children have no medical issues -- must steer clear of anxiety. The number-one thing to avoid, says Hsu, is creating unnecessary fear.

"That's bad for their children's health," Hsu says.

Croft agrees with that assessment: "We try not to treat her any differently, but encourage her to do the best she can in what she can do."

*Names have been changed at the request of the interviewee.

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