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Can Heart Failure Be Reversed

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What Are The Types Of Heart Failure

Can Heart Failure Be Reversed? How People Die From Heart Failure and Natural Prevention

There are many causes of heart failure, but the condition is generally broken down into two types:

Heart failure with reduced left ventricular function The lower left chamber of the heart gets bigger and cannot squeeze hard enough to pump the right amount of oxygen-rich blood to the rest of the body.

Heart failure with preserved left ventricular function The heart contracts and pumps normally, but the bottom chambers of the heart are thicker and stiffer than normal. Because of this, the ventricles can’t relax properly and fill up all the way. Because there’s less blood in the ventricles, less blood is pumped out to the rest of the body when the heart contracts.

Providence Cardiology Specialist Scott Werden Says Treatment Options Include Medication And Lifestyle Changes

Like so many diagnoses, the words pack an emotional wallop: Congestive heart failure.

While the phrase may sound like a death sentence, the good news is that many people whose hearts are considered to be failing can make a virtually complete recovery.

The phrase congestive heart failure is not a pronouncement of imminent death, but a clinical term to describe poor functioning of the mechanics of the heart. As the American College of Cardiology puts it, it is a problem with how your heart pumps.

It is a scary term, agrees Scott Werden, D.O., a cardiology specialist who practices in Olympia and Shelton, Washington, with Providence Medical Group Cardiology Associates. But, he says, You can have an absolutely complete recovery from heart failure.

Dr. Werden says full recovery depends on a variety of things, such as how well a patient responds to medication. A minority of people with congestive heart failure require surgery, and some will never enjoy the high quality of life they did before their hearts failed. But many others will return to very nearly normal life and levels of activity, he says.

Heart Damage Can Be Reversed

An echocardiogram is a noninvasive ultrasound study that allows a physician to assess heart function, the size of the heart, and the condition of the heart valves. Depending on the findings, there may be further tests, such as a heart catheterization or coronary angiogram to look at the blood vessels supplying the heart. Once a diagnosis is made, your physician will be able to assess the cause of the condition and start treatment.

Early diagnosis and treatment are very important. There have been dramatic strides over the last three decades in the treatment of congestive heart failure. It was once thought that heart damage could not be reversed. We now know that this is not true.

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What Is Congestive Heart Failure

Heart failure describes the inability or failure of the heart to meet the needs of organs and tissues for oxygen and nutrients. This decrease in cardiac output, the amount of blood that the heart pumps, is not adequate to circulate the blood returning to the heart from the body and lungs, causing the fluid to leak from capillary blood vessels. This leads to symptoms that may include shortness of breath, weakness, and swelling.

Understanding blood flow in the heart and body

The right side of the heart pumps blood to the lungs while the left side pumps blood to the rest of the body. Blood from the body enters the right atrium through the vena cava. It then flows into the right ventricle where it is pumped to the lungs through the pulmonary artery, which carries deoxygenated blood to the lungs. In the lungs, oxygen is loaded onto red blood cells and returns to the left atrium of the heart via the pulmonary veins. Blood then flows into the left ventricle where it is pumped to the organs and tissues of the body. Oxygen is downloaded from red blood cells into the various organs while carbon dioxide, a waste product of metabolism, is added to be removed in the lungs. Blood then returns to the right atrium to start the cycle again. The pulmonary veins are unusual in that they carry oxygenated blood, while the pulmonary artery carries deoxygenated blood. This is a reversal of duties versus the roles of veins and arteries in the rest of the body.

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Can You Reverse The Effects Of Congestive Heart Failure?

She also suggests cutting down on foods that are heavily processed and sold in a package especially deli items and other processed meats like sausage. Eliminating high-sodium foods like these may help lower your blood pressure.

Other suggestions include getting 2 to 3 cups each of fruits and vegetables to maximize your heart health, adding foods with plenty of fiber think beans or oatmeal and eating nuts and healthy fats like avocado that are cholesterol-friendly.

There’s no doubt that carrying around extra pounds is dangerous for your heart, especially as you age. The good news is that reaching a healthy weight at nearly any stage of life can help improve blood flow to the heart.

Get moving

While a better diet is invaluable, “exercise is the best medicine,” says Shapiro, the Wake Forest cardiologist.

Mountains of evidence show that the benefits of exercise on heart health are huge and multifactorial. It helps burn calories, promote weight loss and lower cholesterol, but exercise also conditions the heart just like other muscles in the body.

When we ask the heart to work more during physical activity, it floods smaller vessels to get more blood pumping through the heart and out to the body more quickly and efficiently. The same vessels may not otherwise be capable of supplying blood if others get blocked, as in the case of heart attack.

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Common Causes Of Heart Failure

Heart failure occurs when the heart is damaged and/or weakened by a defect, infection, or scarring. Examples of conditions or events that damage the heart include:

  • Heart attacks
  • Myocarditis
  • Congenital heart defects
  • Abnormal heart rhythms

In addition to the above, your heart muscle can also be weakened by other underlying health conditions such as diabetes. You can reduce your risk of developing heart failure by managing underlying health conditions, getting regular exercise, and maintaining a healthy weight.

Living With Heart Failure

There are five things patients diagnosed with heart failure need to do every day at home to manage their heart failure. The following MAWDS acronym may help you remember and follow these basic steps:

  • Medications: Take your medications as prescribed by your doctor and heart care team, let them know if you dont tolerate your medications and dont run out of them.
  • Activity: Stay active every day, do what you can to keep your body strong.
  • Weight: Weigh yourself each day, recognize when changes in your weight mean you are retaining more fluid.
  • Diet: Follow your die, that means low salt and limit fluid intake .
  • Symptoms: Recognize your symptoms and know when to call for help.

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Summary Of How Heart Failure Develops

The heart muscle is weakened by conditions or diseases that damage the heart. The hearts pumping action becomes less efficient. The body tries to compensate for the hearts reduced pumping action by

  • Increasing hormonal stimulation
  • Pumping faster
  • Enlargingthe heart chambers stretch and enlarge and the muscle mass may increase in size.

For a time, these adaptations will help continue normal or near-normal heart functions. But sooner or later, these adjustments can actually make matters worse by putting extra strain on the heart.

What Are The Treatment Options For Canine Congestive Heart Failure

Can Heart Disease be Reversed?

The main goal of CHF treatments is to reduce fluid around the heart so it can function more efficiently, pumping blood to the lungs and other organs. The secondary goal of CHF treatments is to reduce symptoms for your pet so they are more comfortable. The most common CHF treatments include:

ACE Inhibitors

ACE inhibitors are drugs which dilate blood vessels so blood can pass more easily, which means the heart doesnt need to work so hard to do its job properly. They are a very common treatment for CHF, and they are often used in conjunction with other treatment options.

Diuretics

Diuretics are often used alongside other treatments to help remove some of the fluid build up with congestive heart failure.

Digoxin

Digoxin helps the heart contract and is commonly used for CHF.

Calcium Channel Blockers

Calcium channel blockers help relax heart muscles and maintain a steady heart rhythm with fewer disturbances. They may also be used to slow the heart rate.

Beta-Blockers

Beta-blockers are used to slow the heart rate, reduce the demand for oxygen, and maintain a normal heart rhythm.

Inodilators

Your dogs vet may prescribe any combination of the above medications to help manage your dogs CHF symptoms and slow the progression of the disease.

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Understanding What Heart Failure Is

Heart failure is often called congestive heart failure, or even just CHF. This doesnt mean that your heart fails to pump or that it stops pumping, but it does mean that your heart is failing to pump as much blood as it should.

Because heart failure is such a serious condition, its normal to wonder if heart failure is reversible. However, there are many factors that determine the severity and prognosis of heart failure.

What Is Nitric Oxide

Nitric Oxide is a simple molecule made up of two atoms one is nitrogen and the other is oxygen, in biology NO is a simple structure but it is now known that Nitric Oxide is of major importance to our very being, it is a vasodilator and controls and regulates the flow of blood around our cardiovascular system.

Nitric oxide is found in our bodies as well as the cardiovascular and nervous systems, it is so powerful that it penetrates the bodys membranes and sends rather specific biological messages or signals that regulate activity at a cellular level that tells our bodies to carry out certain functions.

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Halt The Progression Of Coronary Heart Disease

A healthy lifestyle like the Pritikin Program is successful in halting the progression of coronary heart disease because it covers all bases. It heals essentially every modifiable risk factor that breeds plaque build-up, and it does so not just in one tiny section of one artery, as angioplasty does, but all over.

To address the cause of heart disease, and help eliminate it, our best option is adopting a heart-healthy diet and exercise program, sums up Dr. Danine Fruge, MD, ABFP, Medical Director at the Pritikin Longevity Center.

In the short run, she explains, a heart-healthy lifestyle and, if needed, medications, can reduce inflammation and clotting, and stabilize plaques so that they are much less likely to rupture. In the long run, they can gradually shrink the atherosclerotic plaques and improve blood flow to the heart, and dramatically reduce the risk of dying from cardiovascular diseases.

How Do You Know If Youre At Risk

Can Cardiomyopathy Be Reversed?

The major risk factors for heart disease include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, a sedentary lifestyle, smoking, diabetes, obesity, stress, and a poor diet. Family history of heart disease or stroke is also an important risk factor. “The closer the relative and the younger they were when they had a heart attack, the greater the risk to the patient, Agatston says. Having a sibling who had a heart attack at a young age represents the greatest risk when it comes to family history.

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Eat Less Sugar And Industrialized Foods

Industrialized, processed foods, from white-flour muffins to potato chips, and highly sugared foods and drinks can damage our arteries in multiple ways, such as raising triglyceride fats, blood glucose, and inflammatory levels, not to mention packing on the pounds.

Many people dont realize that having type 2 diabetes, the all-too-common result of our highly processed American diet and sedentary lifestyle, dramatically increases the risk of a heart attack. The chance of dying from heart disease for people with diabetes is two to four times higher than those who do not have diabetes.

Another heart attack promoter is a pre-diabetes condition called the metabolic syndrome. The root cause of metabolic syndrome is a poor diet and excess body fat. You have the metabolic syndrome if you have at least three of the following five conditions:

  • A resting blood pressure of 130/85 or higher , or youre currently taking blood-pressure-lowering medications.
  • A waist circumference of greater than 35 inches in women and 40 inches in men.
  • An HDL good cholesterol less than 40 mg/dL in men and less than 50 mg/dL in women, or youre currently taking HDL-raising medications.
  • A fasting triglyceride level of 150 mg/dL or higher, or youre currently taking triglyceride-lowering medications.
  • A fasting blood sugar of 100 mg/dL or higher.
  • Hope After Heart Attack

    What is undo it?Ornish Lifestyle Medicine at Geisinger Wyoming ValleyWhat is the Ornish diet?Dr. Bryan Martin, DO, is a cardiologist at Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center in Wilkes-Barre. For more information about Ornish Lifestyle Medicine, visit Geisinger.org or call 570-808-7973.

    Geisinger Health Plan may refer collectively to Geisinger Health Plan, Geisinger Quality Options Inc., and Geisinger Indemnity Insurance Company, unless otherwise noted. Geisinger Gold Medicare Advantage HMO, PPO, and HMO D-SNP plans are offered by Geisinger Health Plan/Geisinger Indemnity Insurance Company, health plans with a Medicare contract. Continued enrollment in Geisinger Gold depends on annual contract renewal. Geisinger Health Plan Kids and Geisinger Health Plan Family are offered by Geisinger Health Plan in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services . Geisinger Health Plan is part of Geisinger, an integrated health care delivery and coverage organization.

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    Early Symptoms Of Heart Attack

    According to the studies, early heart attack symptoms occur in 50% of people who have heart attacks. So if youre aware of the early signs, you can be prepared to get treatment promptly enough to prevent heart damage.

    Doctors, however, overwhelmingly assist people in getting help if theyre enduring early heart attack symptoms. This is because 85% of heart damage happens in the first two hours.

    Early symptoms of heart attack that can be seen in men and women are following:

    • Chest discomfort or pain

    Common Signs And Symptoms Of Heart Failure

    Reversing heart disease: Mayo Clinic Radio

    It is very important for you to manage your other health conditions, such as diabetes, kidney disease, anemia, high blood pressure, thyroid disease and asthma or chronic lung disease. Some conditions have signs and symptoms that are similar to heart failure. If you have new or worsening non-urgent symptoms, tell your healthcare provider.

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    Stages C And D With Preserved Ef

    Treatment for patients with Stage C and Stage D heart failure and reserved EF includes:

    • Treatments listed in Stages A and B.
    • Medications for the treatment of medical conditions that can cause heart failure or make the condition worse, such as atrial fibrillation, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, coronary artery disease, chronic lung disease, high cholesterol and kidney disease.
    • Diuretic to reduce or relieve symptoms.

    YOU ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF YOUR TREATMENT PLAN!

    It is up to you to take steps to improve your heart health. Take your medications as instructed, follow a low-sodium diet, stay active or become physically active, take notice of sudden changes in your weight, live a healthy lifestyle, keep your follow-up appointments, and track your symptoms. Talk to your healthcare team about questions or concerns you have about your medications, lifestyle changes or any other part of your treatment plan.

    How Is Heart Failure Treated/managed

    Treatment of heart failure depends on the underlying cause and this will direct the main treatment to prevent further deterioration. Heart failure can be cured if it has a treatable cause.

    If the causes are due to coronary heart disease then the patient may require coronary stents or . If there is a heart valve cause, then the defective valve will need surgery to repair or replace the valve.

    All heart failure patients will need:

    • Lifestyle changes including eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly and stopping smoking and watching fluid intake and reduce alcohol consumption.
    • Medicine a range of medicines can help many people need to take three to four different types which have evidence to show they strengthen the heart and improve prognosis. This includes beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors, ARNI and SGLT2 inhibitors. Other medicines, such as diuretics, may be used to help with the symptoms.

    In cases where patients are seen to be experiencing continued deteriorating heart function despite the best and optimal medication, the following may be considered:

    • Cardiac resynchronising therapy In very severe heart failure conditions, a specialised type of pacemaker has shown to benefit and improve symptoms as well as prolonging life by resynchronising the contractility of the two main pumping chambers of the heart.
    • Cardiac transplant If there is no scope for recovery and the condition deteriorates then in suitable patients, a heart transplant may be considered.

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    Medical Appointments You Should Stop Putting Off

    A primary care provider can help you find out what these measurements are now, how often they should be checked and how to help them get where they should be.

    Risk calculators using this kind of data can help you and your doctor figure out your chances of suffering a stroke or heart attack. Knowing that risk can be scary, but motivating, too.

    Aim for a healthy weight and ditch the packaged foods

    Hopping on a scale is another important step you can take right now, since weight is one of the most influential factors in our heart health.

    While it’s a strong, independent risk factor for heart attack, obesity is also commonly to blame for high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes and out of control cholesterol levels. For all of these conditions, weight loss is the first, and best, option for treatment in most cases.

    You can use a body mass index calculator like this one from the National Institutes of Health to find out your current and ideal BMI. The NIH also offers free online resources, from healthy recipes to a body weight planner that tells you how many calories to eat per day to reach your weight goal in a chosen time frame.

    Pursuing a healthy weightdoesn’t have to be complicated, says Lona Sandon, an associate professor of clinical nutrition at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

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