Question from the reader: Can myocarditis be cured?

Answer: There is a lot of talk about Myocarditis lately. Mainly, this is because of the debates about how myocarditis is connected to COVID-19 vaccination and COVID-19 infection. We will not discuss that today.

The heart is a muscle. You have seen raw meat or even hearts at the butcher’s section of your supermarket. That is exactly what the heart looks like.

A healthy heart consists of red stretchable threads. There are nerves and blood vessels there as well. You can see only some of them.

Myocarditis is when those red stretchable threads get inflamed. You must have seen some inflammation before, surely. You could see inflammation because of the injury or infection. The inflamed place, like a wound, for example, becomes red, puffy, it hurts, sometimes it produces puss. Every wound heals with the scar. A scar is not normal to have. Scars are hard to stretch. Scars squeeze blood vessels and nerves causing bad blood supply, tingling or even constant pain.

The inflammation of the heart is called MYOCARDITIS. The heart also heals with the scar after myocarditis. The stretchable red threads cannot stretch so well anymore after the inflammation. The nerves in the heart cannot send electricity as good as before the myocarditis. (Yes, that is what nerves do – pass electricity and data just like your internet cables. Imagine those damaged!) Blood vessels in the heart are squeezed and cannot supply oxygen and food to where it is needed.

Of course, not every myocarditis ends that bad. Some people become disabled straight after suffering from myocarditis. For others, it takes years to start feeling that something is not right. Some people will live without noticing anything.

The end of this damage is called Congestive Cardiac failure. Persons with that illness cannot breathe, cannot move even a bit without becoming increasingly tired, have lots of water getting stuck around the body and, eventually, they die.

Yes, myocarditis can be cured. However, a lot of people will continue suffering from the complications of this inflammation.