Dog Heart Disease Treatment
Treating heart failure is essential to improve muscle strength, control possible arrhythmia, and maintain normal blood pressure and adequate blood circulation.
It is also imperative to manage to heal excess fluids from the lungs, chest, and abdomen.
Again, treatment depends on your dogs specific condition.
If he is in respiratory distress, your dog must be hospitalized urgently.
He will then be placed under oxygen to be stabilized.
If the heart failure is due to mitral damage, your dog may be treated with Pimobendane , a positive inotrope that strengthens the contraction of the heart and improves blood circulation.
Prescribing a diuretic like furosemide significantly reduces fluid buildup in the lungs.
Finally, an ACE, an angiotensin-converting enzyme, like Enalapril is added to relax blood vessels and reduce hypertension while helping the heart to pump more efficiently.
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Heart Failuresigns And Symptoms
Heart failure is a condition in which the heart fails to function properly. The terms “heart failure” and “congestive heart failure ” don’t mean that the heart has actually “failed” or stopped but mean one or more chambers of the heart “fail” to keep up with the volume of blood flowing through them.
Heart failure is brought on by a variety of underlying diseases and health problems.
Your condition may involve the left side, the right side or both sides of the heart. Each side has two chambers:
- An atrium or upper chamber
- A ventricle or lower chamber
Any one of these four chambers may not be able to keep up with the volume of blood flowing through it.
Two types of heart dysfunction can lead to heart failure, including:
- Systolic Heart Failure This is the most common cause of heart failure and occurs when the heart is weak and enlarged. The muscle of the left ventricle loses some of its ability to contract or shorten. In turn, it may not have the muscle power to pump the amount of oxygenated and nutrient-filled blood the body needs.
- Diastolic Failure The muscle becomes stiff and loses some of its ability to relax. As a result, the affected chamber has trouble filling with blood during the rest period that occurs between each heartbeat. Often the walls of the heart thicken, and the size of the left chamber may be normal or reduced.
What Are The Causes
Several things can cause CHF in dogs. Sometimes, theres a congenital heart defect, which means the defect has been there since birth. These defects include leaking heart valves, an enlarged heart, a hole in the heart and blood vessel abnormalities. Its rare for a dog to have a congenital heart defect. Leaking valves and enlarged hearts can be congenital or develop over time.
Dogs that are born healthy can develop CHF later in life. Some of the things that can cause CHF to develop include viruses like parvovirus, heartworms, bacterial infections and nutritional deficiencies.
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About Congestive Heart Failure
Heart failure, sometimes called congestive cardiac failure , is a condition in which the heart muscle is weakened and cant pump as well as it usually does. The main pumping chambers of the heart can change size and thickness, and either cant contract or cant relax as well as they should. This triggers fluid retention, particularly in the lungs, legs and abdomen.
The major causes of heart failure include coronary heart disease and heart attack, high blood pressure, damage to the heart muscle , heart valve problems and abnormal heart rhythms. Of these, coronary heart disease and heart attack are the most common causes.
The major factors that contribute to coronary heart disease include:
- reduced emotional and social wellbeing
- physical inactivity.
Heart failure is more common in elderly people. The survival rate for people with this disorder depends on the severity of their condition.
Most common treatments for heart failure are medications and self-managed lifestyle changes. Some less-common treatments may require insertion of implantable cardiac devices or valve replacement.
What Are The Signs And Symptoms Of Congestive Heart Failure
Shortness of breath
The hallmark and most common symptom of left heart failure is shortness of breath and may occur:
Chest Pain
Right heart failure, left heart failure, or both
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Heart Failure Treatment Is A Team Effort
Heart failure management is a team effort, and you are the key player on the team. Your heart doctor will prescribe your medications and manage other medical problems. Other team members — including nurses, dietitians, pharmacists, exercise specialists, and social workers — will help you achieve success. But it is up to YOU to take your medications, make dietary changes, live a healthy lifestyle, keep your follow-up appointments, and be an active member of the team.
If you notice anything unusual, don’t wait until your next appointment to discuss it with your doctor. Call them right away if you have:
- Unexplained weight gain
- Swelling in your ankles, feet, legs, or belly that gets worse
- Shortness of breath that gets worse or happens more often, especially if you wake up feeling that way
- Bloating with a loss of appetite or nausea
- Extreme fatigue or more trouble finishing your daily activities
- A lung infection or a cough that gets worse
- Fast heart rate
- New irregular heartbeat
Causes Of Heart Failure
Heart failure is often the result of a number of problems affecting the heart at the same time.
Conditions that can lead to heart failure include:
- coronary heart disease where the arteries that supply blood to the heart become clogged up with fatty substances , which may cause angina or a heart attack
- high blood pressure this can put extra strain on the heart, which over time can lead to heart failure
- conditions affecting the heart muscle
- heart rhythm problems , such as atrial fibrillation
- damage or other problems with the heart valves
- congenital heart disease birth defects that affect the normal workings of the heart
Sometimes obesity, anaemia, drinking too much alcohol, an overactive thyroid or high pressure in the lungs can also lead to heart failure.
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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.
What Are The Advantages And Disadvantages Of This Procedure
The biggest advantage of heart transplantation is that its a life-saving option when other options didnt work, were too risky to use, or were unlikely to help.
The biggest disadvantages of heart transplant are:
- More people need a heart transplant than there are available donor hearts.
- Its an extremely complicated surgery, limiting it to only the most well-equipped and best-staffed hospitals.
- Some people may be too ill to survive the procedure.
- The procedure has several potential risks and complications .
What are the risks or complications of this procedure?
The most common risks and complications of heart transplant include the following:
- Organ rejection.
- Graft failure .
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What Is The Prognosis And Life Expectancy For Congestive Heart Failure
- The degree to which other organ systems are involved and the severity of other accompanying conditions
- The person’s symptoms and degree of impairment
- Other factors that remain poorly understood
With the availability of newer drugs to potentially favorably affect the progression of the disease, the prognosis in congestive heart failure is generally more favorable than that observed just 10 years ago. In some cases, especially when the heart muscle dysfunction has recently developed, a significant spontaneous improvement is not uncommonly observed, even to the point where heart function becomes normal.
Heart failure is often graded on a scale of I to IV based on the patient’s ability to function.
The prognosis of heart failure patients is very closely associated with the functional class.
An important issue in congestive heart failure is the risk of heart rhythm disturbances . Of those deaths that occur in individuals with congestive heart failure, approximately 50% are related to progressive heart failure. Importantly, the other half are thought to be related to serious arrhythmias.
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.
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What Are The Symptoms Of Heart Failure
You may not have any symptoms of heart failure, or the symptoms may be mild to severe. Symptoms can be constant or can come and go. The symptoms can include:
- Congested lungs. Fluid backup in the lungs can cause shortness of breath with exercise or difficulty breathing at rest or when lying flat in bed. Lung congestion can also cause a dry, hacking cough or wheezing.
- Fluid and water retention. Less blood to your kidneys causes fluid and water retention, resulting in swollen ankles, legs, abdomen , and weight gain. Symptoms may cause an increased need to urinate during the night. Bloating in your stomach may cause a loss of appetite or nausea.
- Dizziness, fatigue, and weakness. Less blood to your major organs and muscles makes you feel tired and weak. Less blood to the brain can cause dizziness or confusion.
- Rapid or irregular heartbeats. The heart beats faster to pump enough blood to the body. This can cause a rapid or irregular heartbeat.
If you have heart failure, you may have one or all of these symptoms or you may have none of them. They may or may not indicate a weakened heart.
Can Congestive Heart Failure Stem From Unhealthy Lifestyle Habits
Congestive heart failure can occur if a person lives an unhealthy lifestyle for prolonged period of time. Some of the conditions include-
Obesity: Lack of routine exercise and prominent obesity may put a pressure on the heart directly which may lead to heart failure.
Salty Food: Consumption of excessively salty food or high intake of salt in any form may facilitate water retention making the person prone to congestive heart failure.
Alcohol: Excessive consumption of alcohol and smoking affects the functions of the internal organs and may lead to congestive heart failure.
Medicines: If the patient does not take proper medication for existing conditions like high cholesterol or high blood pressure and does not confirm with the medical therapies, it can increase the risk of congestive heart failure.
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How Is Chf Diagnosed In Dogs
Bruiser needed an echocardiogram , which revealed degeneration of the mitral heart valve and subsequent heart enlargement. This is common in older dogs.
A full physical examination will be needed to determine the cause and whether there is an abnormal heart size, fluid accumulation, pleural effusion, and heart defects.
Steps toward a diagnosis of congestive heart failure in dogs:
- Listening to the heart with a stethoscope
- An electrocardiogram . Sometimes an ultrasound is done as well.
Doctors Notes On Congestive Heart Failure
Congestive heart failure refers to a condition in which the heart is no longer able to pump blood sufficiently to meet all the bodys needs for oxygen. The inability of the heart to pump sufficiently ultimately causes fluid to leak from capillary blood vessels, causing many of the characteristic symptoms. Any disease that can weaken the heart can cause congestive heart failure. Some of the more common causes are:
Fluid buildup in the lungs is known as pulmonary edema, which leads to shortness of breath. Other associated symptoms include:
- problems sleeping when reclining.
What Is the Treatment for Congestive Heart Failure ?
The treatment for congestive heart failure is to some extent dependent upon the cause of the heart failure and usually involves a combination of different medications, which may include:
- Diuretics to control fluid buildup
- Medications to control blood pressure, including angiotensin converting inhibitors , beta-blockers, androgen receptor-2 blockers, or others
- Medication to strengthen the hearts activity such as digoxin
- Vericiguat , which a type of drug known as an oral soluble guanylate cyclase stimulator
- Nitrate medications to control chest pain
- Blood-thinning medications to prevent clots
Some people, depending on the cause of their CHF, may require:
- Surgery to repair or replace heart valves
- Coronary bypass surgery
- Insertion of a pacemaker, ventricular assist devices
- Heart transplantation
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Heart Failure Signs And Symptoms
By themselves, any one sign of heart failure may not be cause for alarm. But if you have more than one of these symptoms, even if you haven’t been diagnosed with any heart problems, report them to a healthcare professional and ask for an evaluation of your heart. Congestive heart failure is a type of heart failure which requires seeking timely medical attention, although sometimes the two terms are used interchangeably.
This table lists the most common signs and symptoms, explains why they occur and describes how to recognize them.
The Earliest Symptoms Of Heart Failure Are Often Very Subtle But Its Dangerous To Ignore Them
Its an unfortunate truth that your body slows down in your sixth and seventh decades. Climbing a flight of stairs that you once took two at a time can now feel as daunting as scaling Mount Everest. While some degree of vitality loss can be attributed to natural aging, fatigue and breathlessness may also be signals that your heart is not functioning as well as it should. There is a general tendency for people to ignore heart failure symptoms and attribute them to just getting older. Therefore, it was very important for us to create an easy way to identify those symptoms, says Dr. Mandeep R. Mehra, medical director of the Heart and Vascular Center at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Womens Hospital.
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2022. 7. 28. ·CHF is a condition that occurs when the heart is unable to pump enough blood to meet the needs of the entire body . We will write a custom Presentation on Congestive Heart Failure : Causes, Treatment and Prevention specifically for you. for only $16.05 $11/page. 808 certified writers online. Stage C. Stage C is where heart failure has begun to cause symptoms that result from the weakening of the left ventricle. This is also the stage where symptoms such as fatigue and shortness of breath are a common occurrence. Swelling in.
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When To Seek Help
Patients with a life expectancy shorter than six months are eligible for hospice care. A hospice provides additional aid and resources to assist the person in living comfortably and with the highest possible quality of life. Hospice caregivers can also help patients and their families plan for future needs and circumstances. They have a unique insight into how to assist those with these difficulties.
Patients with end-stage heart failure need medical continuity throughout outpatient programs. These are just some of the symptoms that hospice care might help with. Positive inotropic drug infusions, anxiolytics, and sleeping medicines are all viable treatments. Its challenging for patients, families, and doctors caring for patients with end-stage heart failure to identify when treatment goals shift from survival to quality of life, allowing for a peaceful and dignified death.
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