Heart Failure
What Is Heart Failure?
Heart failure, even though a serious condition, is a misnomer. It doesn't mean your heart failed or that death is imminent. Instead, it means that your heart can no longer pump enough blood through your body. Because of the heart's decreased ability to pump, you might experience:
- Tiredness and/or shortness of breath
- A back-up of fluid and blood in the lungs
- Swelling of the feet, ankles, and/or legs
If the left side of your heart weakens (the side that pumps blood to the rest of the body), you might hear the term ejection factor (EF). This refers to how much blood your heart pushes out with each beat. Usually, the heart pushes out about half of the blood in it, but if your heart weakens on this side, it might only expel 30 percent or less.
Although the left side of the heart weakens more commonly than the right side, the right side that pumps blood to the lungs might also function at decreased capacity. This can occur if the pressure in your lungs rises higher than normal - a condition that might occur due to a weakened left side, emphysema, or pulmonary hypertension. People with high blood pressure and/or diabetes might face greater risk for right heart failure.
What Causes Heart Failure?
Heart failure results from other diseases or conditions that damage the heart. The leading causes of heart failure include coronary artery disease and high blood pressure.
Diabetes is also a major cause of heart failure. Blocked blood vessels and high blood glucose levels can damage the heart muscle.
Modifiable risks:
Non-modifiable risks:
- Age (65+ years old)
- Race (African American)
How Do You Know If You Have Heart Failure?
Your doctor might perform several blood and cardiac tests to see if you have heart failure.
The most common signs and symptoms of the condition include:
- Shortness of breath caused by fluid buildup in the lungs, sometimes accompanied by a cough
- Feeling tired
- Edema, or swelling in the ankles, feet, legs, and perhaps the abdomen. A buildup of fluid in the body causes edema, which might also be accompanied by frequent urination and/or weight gain.
- Decreased alertness
- Trouble staying asleep
How Can You Prevent Heart Failure?
Keeping your blood sugar levels and your blood pressure within normal ranges can greatly reduce your risk of heart failure.
In addition, lifestyle changes can also help. These include:
- Eating a heart-healthy diet that is low in salt, cholesterol, saturated fat, and trans fats
- Quitting smoking
- Losing weight, if you're overweight
Living with Heart Failure
Medications can help treat heart failure, but no cure exists for the condition. After time, even with medicine, your symptoms might get worse and interfere with your normal activities.
To stay as comfortable as possible, make sure you:
- Follow your doctor's advice about diet, and reduce the amount of salt you eat.
- Take all prescribed medication.
- Keep all doctor appointments.
- Speak with your doctor before taking any new medications, even over-the-counter drugs and herbal supplements.
- Limit the amount of fluids you drink.
- Limit your alcohol intake since alcohol might make your symptoms worse.
How Can You Treat Heart Failure?
Treatment for heart failure is designed to make you more comfortable, keep heart failure from worsening, and prolong your life. But you must still treat the disease or condition that caused your heart failure.
To help improve heart function and to relieve some of your symptoms, your doctor will prescribe some medications. Common ones include:
- Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors - such as captopril and enalapril to prevent the narrowing of blood vessels and lessen the strain on your heart function
- Angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) - such as losartan and candesartan to help widen blood vessels
- Beta blockers - to help slow your heart rate and decrease the stress on your heart
- Diuretics - including thiazide, loop diuretics, and potassium-sparing diuretics to eliminate excess water and salt from your body
- Digoxin - to increase heart function and help it pump more blood
People with severe heart failure might need to use extra oxygen. Others might need a heart transplant or mechanical heart pump that doctors place inside the body to help the heart pump blood.
Some people might also need:
- Implanted defibrillators to prevent sudden cardiac death. Placed under the skin, these devices track the electrical activity in the heart. If the defibrillator notes a problem, it sends out a small electrical shock, which restores the normal heartbeat.
- Biventricular pacemakers, which stimulate both sides of the heart and keep them working together.
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Thursday
November 20, 2008
Tip of the Day
Regular exercise increases the number of insulin receptor sites on cells, making the body more sensitive to insulin.
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