How Long Will I Live With Heart Failure
The congestive heart failure lifespan depends on many variables, such as the cause of heart failure, its severity, and other comorbidities.The survival rates for those affected in the general population are:
- 5-years: 51.5% and
- 10-years: 29.5%.
There are 6 million people alive in the US that suffer from this disease, and almost 1 million in the UK. The data shown above tells us that only a half of these people will survive the next 5 years.
A heart transplant, being the ultimate treatment for such a disease, prolongs the estimated survival. 20 years after a transplant, around21% of patients are still alive.
There’s a special tool for assessing the mortality rate of heart failure patients admitted to the ICU.
What Are The Symptoms Of Heart Failure
A key symptom of heart failure is difficulty breathing, or shortness of breath. You may notice it in the following ways:
- You may find physical activity difficult.
- You may wake up during the night because its hard to breathe.
- You may find its uncomfortable to lie flat since that makes it difficult to breathe normally.
Other common signs of heart failure include:
How Does A Healthy Heart Work
The heart is a muscle about the size of your fist. The hearts job is to pump blood, rich in oxygen and nutrients, to all parts of your body. The left ventricle is the main pumping chamber. In a normal heart, the left ventricle ejects 50% or more of its blood volume out into circulation. This percentage is called the ejection fraction or EF.
- Heart Failure is not a disease.
- Heart Failure is the name used to describe a set of symptoms.
- Heart Failure is caused by diseases that affect the ability of the heart to pump blood.
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Can You Prevent Congestive Heart Failure
Congestive heart failure can be the ultimate result of a number of diseases, or lifestyle choices, that damage the heart. Some of these can be prevented. Others cannot be prevented but can be treated successfully.
Some examples of illnesses or lifestyle choices that can lead to congestive heart failure are as follows:
- Coronary heart disease , including heart attack
- Uncontrolled high blood pressure
- Congenital heart disease
- Damage to the heart valves
In some cases, a family history of heart failure can be present. Many cases are a combination of factors, and in other cases, the cause is unknown.
If a person has congestive heart failure, they are at increased risk of developing pneumonia. They probably should receive both the pneumonia vaccination and annual flu shots. Patients should ask their doctor or other health care professional to be sure.
Clinical Features Associated With Death
Most of the published reports on the clinical features predicting a poor outcome in patients with heart failure have come from highly selected series of patients. Typically, series are limited to young patients who have been referred for cardiac transplant assessment or for the introduction of vasodilator treatment. Such patients have survived the initial onset of heart failure, but remain severely symptomatic despite pharmacological treatment at their local hospital.,, These patients are unrepresentative of all patients with heart failure. Also, such patients tend to undergo investigations that are not readily available for patients with heart failure in routine clinical practice . The prognostic scoring systems derived from such data are unlikely to be applicable to the generality of patients with heart failure and have little use in clinical practice.
In our present study four factors were found to be independently associated with cardiovascular mortality: age, serum creatinine concentration, systolic blood pressure, and the extent of crackles on auscultation of the lungs.
Mortality increased by 26% for every 10 year increase in age at onset of heart failure, even when allowing for other factors . Although intuitively this might be expected, and other investigators have found it to be so,,, there are reports suggesting the opposite or no association at all.
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Physical Examination And Manoeuvres That Are Likely To Be Useful In Diagnosing The Cause Of This Problem
Most CHF patients who present to the emergency department usually have low oxygen saturation and rapid respiratory rate, which may or may not be associated with altered mental status, excessive sweating, use of accessory muscles of respiration, and cyanosis based on severity of dyspnea. It is important to know that these patients usually remain normotensive . Approximately 5-10% of acute heart failure hospitalization may be hypotensive and have signs of low cardiac output .
Findings of fluid overload such as lower extremity pitting edema, bilateral pulmonary crackles or rales with hepatomegaly, jaundice, ascites, jugular venous distension , displaced point of maximum impulse , and S3 on cardiac examination are common in patients with congestive heart failure.
Characteristic physical examination maneuvers that can guide towards the underlying etiology of dyspnea include pulsating liver , S4 in patients with diastolic heart failure, thyrotoxicosis and presence of murmurs . Hepatojugular reflux cannot diagnose cause of dyspnea but can help establish diagnosis of fluid overload.
It is important to know that pulmonary rales may be absent in patients with chronic CHF and lower extremity swelling may not be apparent in chronically bedridden patients .
In patients with well-compensated CHF all the above mentioned signs and symptoms may be absent and the patient may appear totally asymptomatic.
Cardiac cachexia, confusion and altered mental status may be present in severe cases.
What Are The Symptoms Of End
Heart Failure: Quick Facts
1. More than 6 million U.S. adults have heart failure.
2. About half of people who develop heart failure die within 5 years of diagnosis.
3. Most people with end-stage heart failure have a life expectancy of less than 1 year.
4. The leading causes of heart failure are diseases that damage the heart, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes.
Heart failure worsens over time, so symptoms are most severe during the final stages. It causes fluid to build up in the body, which produces many of these symptoms:
- Shortness of breath . In the final stages of heart failure, people feel breathless both during activity and at rest.
- Persistent coughing or wheezing. This may produce white or pink mucus. The cough may be worse at night or when lying down.
- Weight gain or swelling of the feet, ankles, legs, abdomen, or neck veins.
- Tiredness, weakness.
In addition, people in the final stages of heart failure may suffer from:
- depression, fear, insomnia, and isolation
- anxiety about their future
- trouble navigating the health care system
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What Is The Outlook With Heart Failure
With the right care, congestive heart failure wont stop you from doing the things you enjoy. Your prognosis, or outlook for the future, will depend on:
- How well your heart muscle is working.
- How well you respond to your treatment plan.
- How well you follow your treatment plan.
One study says that people with heart failure have a life span 10 years shorter than those who dont have heart failure. Another study showed that the survival rates of people with chronic heart failure were 80% to 90% for one year, but that dropped to 50% to 60% for year five and down to 30% for 10 years.
A different study found that people who had heart failure and were discharged from the hospital had expected life spans ranging from three to 20 years, depending on various factors like age and gender. Its important to look at your specific situation when considering your prognosis.
Diagnosis Of Heart Failure Of Acute Onset
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Data from Ponikowski P, Voors AA, Anker SD, et al: 2016 ESC Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic heart failure: The Task Force for the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic heart failure of the European Society of Cardiology Developed with the special contribution of the Heart Failure Association of the ESC. European Heart Journal 37:2129-2200, 2016. doi: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehw128 |
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A Management Of Hfref
Stage A
This include patients who are at risk of heart failure but without structural heart disease and it involves patients with risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, history of use of cardiotoxins, and family history of cardiomyopathy.
At this stage, the goal is to reduce risk factorsvia life style modifications including achieving normal body weight, regular exercise, healthy diet, giving up smoking, controlling blood pressure, glucose and cholesterol. This applies to patients with both HFrEF and HFpEF. Controlling hypertension alone in the elderly has been shown to decrease the HF incidence by about 40%.
Stage B
This includes patients with structural heart disease but without any sign or symptoms of heart failure. This can be due to previous myocardial infarction, left ventricular hypertrophy and/or asymptomatic reduced LVEF.
-Given coronary artery disease is the most common cause of heart failure, all patients without an obvious cause should be evaluated for coronary artery disease.
-All patients with HFrEF should be started on an evidence-based b-blocker and ACE-I or ARB as tolerated. ARB is best used in ACE-I intolerant patients. Only 3 ARBs have been studied on HF patients â valsartan, losartan and candesartan.
-If a patient cannot tolerate ACE-I and ARB or are contraindicated, then hydralazine-nitrate combination can be used instead.
Stage C
Patients with prior or current symptomatic heart failure are included in Stage C.
Stage D
Signs That You May Have Chf
There are lots of small symptoms that people experience that can be indicative of developing congestive heart failure. A rapid or irregular heartbeat is a possible sign, as is an enlarged heart.
However, there are also many other signs that manifest across the body. Some people suffer from weakness, fatigue, and shortness of breath. These issues can lead to an inability to exercise, which in turn may lead to weight gain and obesity issues. Weight gain may also come in the form of fluid retention. People with signs of congestive heart failure also find themselves with persistent coughs, an increased need to urinate at night, swelling of the legs and problems concentrating.
As you can see, there are lots of potential problems here that we all need to take notice of. Isolated signs, such as fatigue and dizziness, may be part of another illness. If doctors rule out other causes, and symptoms persist, then it may be time to reassess a relative for congestive heart failure. On that note, it is important to understand the four stages of CHF.
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Comparison With Other Studies
There is considerable variation in previous heart failure survival estimates depending on the study setting. People with acute heart failure recruited from hospital inpatient populations have comparatively poor outcomes. Among 12440 people with heart failure in the European Society of Cardiology Heart Failure Long-Term registry, one year mortality was 23.6% for people with acute heart failure and 6.4% for those with chronic heart failure across Europe.34 Despite initiatives in many countries to improve care for people with heart failure, success has been limited. The most recent annual national heart failure audit in England reported one year mortality rates of 29.6% among people admitted to hospital with heart failure. This rate had not improved for the previous six years despite service restructuring to provide patients with care from specialist heart failure teams during admission and immediately after discharge.10
B Common Pitfalls And Side
In order not to miss the key management points, we have divided them into three areas, covering diagnostic approach, treatment management, and discharge.
With regards to diagnostic approach
The cause and mechanism of heart failure should always be determined.
Amyloidosis or infiltrative causes should be considered in patients with low voltage on ECG and heart failure.
Atrial electromechanical dissociation should be considered in patients with muscular dystrophy. Patients in sinus rhythm and muscular dystrophy can still have strokes if in atrial electromechanical dissociation.
In cases of rapidly progressive heart failure and when giant cell myocarditis or cardiac amyloidosis is suspected, cardiac biopsy should be considered.
Serial BNP should be avoided during hospital stay although it may be useful to order this test on admission and on discharge to monitor baseline level of patients.
CHF exacerbation can be due to a combination of etiologies and concentrating on one may lead to missing other underlying etiologies. Always consider multiple causes that can lead to decompensation of heart failure.
With regards to management
Patients may decompensate quickly. Pitfalls include failure to identify signs of respiratory failure and inability to take appropriate immediate action such as securing airway and transfer to cardiac care unit . Some of the alarming signs include hypotension, respiratory distress, and diaphoresis.
For discharge
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Diagnosing Congestive Heart Failure
The first step is to take some blood tests to look for chemical changes, as well as some chest x-rays to see the condition of the heart and lungs. An electrocardiogram can also help doctors see the heart rhythm, while an echocardiogram looks at the shape and output of the hearts. Stress tests on a treadmill are another option, sometimes with a mask to measure breathing rates and output. Others may use CT and MRI imaging tools where applicable.
What Are The Last Signs Of Congestive Heart Failure
Some doctors and health care providers may talk about the last signs or end-of-life signs of congestive heart failure. These are the symptoms that occur when patients are nearing the end and have little chance of recovery.
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What Happens With Heart Failure
The term Heart Failure suggests that the heart has stopped working or has failed. This is not the case. What it actually means is that the heart is not working as well as it should, and cannot pump enough blood to meet the bodys needs.
This happens because the heart is weakened by conditions or diseases that damage the heart muscle. Most of these conditions weaken the heart little by little, over a period of time.
Heart Failure Life Expectancy Calculator
Prognostic Utility and Clinical Significance of Cardiac Mechanics in Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection FractionPredicting survival in heart failure: a risk score based on 39 372 patients from 30 studiesACC/AHA Guidelines for the Evaluation and Management of Chronic Heart Failure in the Adult: Executive Summary A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines
The heart failure life expectancy calculator is a simple, yet effective, tool for predicting the 1-year and 3-year survival odds of someone with congestive heart failure.
In the article below, we will focus on congestive heart failure/CHF prognosis, the estimates on how long can you live with congestive heart failure, and the average CHF life expectancy for a given stage of the disease.
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Patient And Public Involvement
We are grateful to our two patient representatives who have heart failure and informed the research question and design for this study. They initially found heart failure a frightening term, which suggested an imminent demise, and were surprised to find it was a long term condition which they would learn to live with. They thought that clinical staff inadequately covered the issue of survival following a diagnosis, and they would like doctors to have the facts because the prognostic information given to them had been very limited. We plan to disseminate the findings of this research to patients, carers, heart failure charities, research funders, and policy makers using our social media platforms. We will use the hashtag SurviveHF to promote the key message of this paper within and beyond the heart failure community.
Anemia And Iron Deficiency
Anemia is common among patients with chronic heart failure and is frequently multifactorial. Anemia is associated with worse symptoms and outcomes in HF and so reversible causes should be sought and treated. Iron deficiency Iron Deficiency Anemia Iron deficiency is the most common cause of anemia and usually results from blood loss malabsorption, such as with celiac disease, is a much less common cause. Symptoms are usually nonspecific… read more is among the most common causes of anemia in HF, and iron replacement therapy should be considered once treatable causes such as blood loss have been excluded. Oral iron replacement is often less effective due to poor absorption and other reasons, thus intravenous iron replacement is preferred.
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Treatments For Heart Failure
Treatment for heart failure usually aims to control the symptoms for as long as possible and slow down the progression of the condition.
How you’re treated will depend on what is causing your heart failure.
Common treatments include:
- lifestyle changes including eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly and stopping smoking
- medicine a range of medicines can help many people need to take 2 or 3 different types
- devices implanted in your chest these can help control your heart rhythm
- surgery such as a or a heart transplant
Treatment will usually be needed for life.
A cure may be possible when heart failure has a treatable cause. For example, if your heart valves are damaged, replacing or repairing them may cure the condition.