Heart failure—defined as the heart’s decreasing ability to effectively pump oxygen-rich blood throughout the body—affects about 6 million Americans. That’s one out of every five people over 40 today, an incidence that is only expected to rise within the next 15 years.
But those coping with the chronic condition can take heart: Today’s medications, devices and other treatments can help you live longer and better.
Heart failure occurs because the heart muscle is scarred or weakened, often from heart attacks or long-standing high blood pressure. Regardless of the cause, the end result is the same: The heart has a hard time sustaining blood circulation because of its diminished pumping action. Common symptoms include increased shortness of breath, swollen feet and legs and a declining ability to keep up with physical demands overall.
“Heart failure robs patients of things that are fundamentally human: walking to the corner, dancing at your daughter’s wedding, climbing the stairs to go to bed,” says George Ruiz, MD, of MedStar Heart & Vascular Institute. “Our goal as health care providers is to give back what heart failure has taken away.”
To that end, cardiologists use a combination of treatments to keep further deterioration at bay, ease the heart’s workload and reduce symptoms.
The first line of treatment is medical management. Such familiar-sounding classes of drugs as ACE inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers and beta blockers, along with some newer FDA-approved medications, have been proven effective in large-scale studies. So, too, has the combination of the vasodilator hydralazine and nitrates for African American patients. By improving blood flow, reducing blood pressure and/or slowing down the heart rate (pulse), these drugs extend and improve life and its quality for many.
When medication by itself is not enough, patients with significant heart damage and/or arrhythmias may also need implantable defibrillators and bi-ventricular pacemakers.
As heart failure progresses, however, specialists increasingly turn to continuous intravenous medication and/or surgically implanted pumps (left ventricular assist devices or LVADs) to improve or even take over circulation. For carefully selected patients with advanced heart failure, heart transplantation remains the most effective long-term solution.
Of course, the best offense still remains a good defense: Finding those at high risk for developing heart failure, then aggressively modifying risk factors and promoting healthy lifestyle changes. And the only way to do that is to see your doctor regularly.
Article source: http://wtop.com/sponsored-content/2016/01/advanced-heart-failure-beating-the-odds/