Heart failure as a concept is very broad. It is said in medicines and cardiology that all heart diseases lead to heart failure. Heart failure is often misunderstood, and people attribute any sudden death with heart failure. Heart failure is the gradual weakening of the heart muscle compromising its ability to assist circulatory system to transport blood to various parts of the human body. The general estimate for heart failure suggests that one per cent of adult population is affected by heart failure in some form or the other. The prognosis of heart failure is almost the same as in cancer. The alarm bells have already risen in India in last couple of years, as patients ten years younger than global average have presented as heart failure patients and the mortality rate is also reported to be rising. The seriousness of the developing scenario makes it incumbent upon the people to discuss and understand heart failure, its causes and how it can be effectively managed.
Heart is the most talked about topic in any social forum said Dr Nakul Sinha. Still, people pay scant attention to ways and means of keeping it healthy and thereby impacting their well-being.
The main reason of ignoring heart health is the lack of awareness about the heart diseases, which results into heart failure. Beat Heart Failure is one such initiative by the Times of India in partnership with Novartis to disseminate the authentic facts about heart failure, its signs, symptoms, risk factors, its management and treatment options. The campaign is in the fourth phase and doctors from the best hospitals of India from different parts the country has joined the movement to instill confidence amongst people that heart failure is preventable, reversible, and treatable, if diagnosed in time.
Doctors continue to lend their support in this noble cause. Doctors from Medanta Hospital, Lucknow have joined to share their knowledge about diagnosis, treatment, management and required lifestyle modifications – • Dr Nakul Sinha, Director – Interventional Cardiology • Dr RK Saran, Director – Clinical & Preventive Cardiology https://fb.me/e/2hdOQ4A2e Heart failure is the outcome of heart’s inability to keep up with blood flow to meet the demands of the human body due to its weakness. The symptoms of persistent breathlessness and fatigue in the daily life of an ordinary individual is a signal for him or her to visit the physician for diagnosis and investigation to discover the root cause of the symptoms, averred Dr Nakul Sinha. The sportspersons showing fatigue or breathlessness during their workout, may also need to get some preliminary investigation.
Dr Saran said, the heart failure manifests itself as a syndrome of symptoms like breathlessness which can be acute or chronic. The acute breathlessness is a kind of fast and sudden in a short duration of less than half an hour or so. The other form of breathlessness, develops gradually, which was non-existent few months before. Dr Saran further elaborated that acute breathlessness occurs when the pumping power of heart is reduced by fifteen percent to twenty percent below the normal ejection level of sixty five percent. Patients with severe disorder may have to go for repeated hospitalizations.
Breathlessness when appears with edema i.e., swelling in the legs, on stomach, in lungs, the physicians recommend for tests like NT pro BNP and 2D Echocardiogram to ascertain the stage of heart failure in the patient. Patient with heart failure shows acute or chronic dyspnea, adversely impacting him and resulting in severe breathlessness.
The prevention is the only cure of heart disease, stated Dr Nakul Sinha. He had outlined the various risk factors which cause the onset of heart failure. The risk factors are diabetes, high blood pressure, overweight, lack of sleep, excess salt intake, consuming foods rich in fats especially trans-fat and saturated fat. The outcome of treatments varies depending on the stage at which evaluation is done. Symptoms may not be visible, at times in patient and in other cases the symptoms manifest in various forms. Any treatment begins with the focus on providing symptomatic relief to the patients and medications are administered to lessen the risk or worsening of symptoms in almost all cases barring patients with complications. The noticeable relief can be observed in a fortnight or so. Post that further treatment options are reviewed with the patients. It is important for patients to control fluid intake to not more than 1 to 1.5 litters and salt intake within permissible limits. This will help them to control weight.
The advancement in medical sciences brought impactful medications, which are doing wonders in heart failure treatment. Treatment through these modern therapies with medicines is the first preference of the doctors, however depending on the stage of patient, CRT devices are recommended. CRT devices are like a pacemaker. LVAD or artificial heart implant is considered in the severe heart failure patients. But, when no therapy shows results, patient is suggested to go for heart transplant.
Heart transplant has emerged as an important milestone in treatment of last stage heart failure patients. The challenge lies not only in getting a brain-dead donor, but alertness of the family, coordination, and establishment of system of harvesting the heart. There is seventy percent chance that a person with heart transplant may expect to live, five to seven years though under massive immunological suppressive drugs. Heart transplant enables a person to work normally as he would have ejection fraction equal to a person with a healthy heart, said Dr Nakul Sinha.
Treatment focuses on improving quality of life and longevity for heart failure patients. Patients must cut down on smoking and adopt healthy lifestyles for healthy heart. Cutting down on junk food and fatty foods is also important. Heart failure does imply some degree of bed rest, but not excessive bed rest said, Dr Nakul Sinha. The excessive bed rest adds problems in the form of adverse impact on muscles and blood pressure of the person may be unstable. Doctors recommend commencement of resumption of limited exercise and increasing it further based on symptomatic experience.
Remember, heart failure isn’t about stopping. It’s about starting life in a new way. To know more about how to manage heart failure, visit https://www.toibeatheartfailure.com/patientguide.php Disclaimer: “The views and opinions expressed in the article by the panellists/experts are based on their independent professional judgement and are disseminated in public interest. These views should not be considered as a substitute for professional advice of a registered medical practitioner. The purpose of this article is not to promote any medical procedures or medication and/or recommend a certain doctor. For any specific health issues, please consult your registered medical practitioner.” PWR PWR PWR
