 Heart Failure is a serious problem all over the world. In the United States there are 500,000 new cases per year!
The incidence and prevalence has increased in accordance with the increasing age of the population. The five year heart failure mortality rate is about 50%, which is higher than most common cancers. The symptoms of heart failure are shortness of breath, weakness, exercise intolerance, and abnormal accumulation of body fluid and lung congestion. All of these symptoms could be due to other kinds of illnesses. Physicians are able to reach a diagnosis after a thorough evaluation.
There are many causes of heart failure e.g. valvular heart diseases, myocardial diseases, pericardial diseases or main blood vessel diseases. Symptoms of heart failure are usually initiated by malformation of the left side lower chamber of the heart.
Certain untreated illnesses can eventually lead to heart failure, e.g. hypertension, coronary insufficiency, diabetes mellitus, excessive alcohol consumption etc. Patients with these illnesses can avoid heart failure by receiving proper treatment.
Treatment of heart failure depends on its causes, stages and severity of the heart failure. Patients who are at the early stage (with mild symptoms) can be treated by controlling the underlying causes, stop smoking, quit alcohol, treatments for dyslipidemia and regular exercise etc.
Patients who are at the middle stage (moderate symptoms) can be treated with diuretics to increase urine output. It ameliorates the symptoms, however it does not benefit the life expectancy.
Medications that are proved to improve life expectancy are beta-blockers and ACE-inhibitors. There are other agents that improve the heart function by stimulating its contractions. New medications are on the way continually for this ailment.
Heart failure caused by asynchronization of the right and left heart contractions can be treated by implantation of an artificial pacemaker underneath the skin on the chest wall. By a connecting wire, directed to both sides of the heart, electric current can be sent from the pacemaker to make them contract in even tempo, and improve the heart function.
Patients with coronary insufficiency (decreased blood supply to the heart muscles) of moderate degree can be treated by inserting a balloon into the partially occluded coronary artery to dilate it. For more severe cases, surgery
can be done to connect an additional graft (source
of blood supply) to the distal part of an
obstructed coronary artery, bypassing the
occlusion. Patients with valvular heart diseases can have their heart valves repaired or replaced accordingly, to improve heart function. |
