how do you deal with congestive heart failure

Managing Congestive Heart Failure

• Easing congestive heart failure with diet and exercise. ...
• Stop smoking, minimize discomfort, and manage medications to ease congestive heart failure. ...
• Making the most of doctors' appointments. ...
• Stay on top of depression and anxiety. ...
• Help a patient help himself. ...

Full Answer

What is the life expectancy of someone with congestive heart failure?

Life expectancy with congestive heart failure varies depending on the severity of the condition, genetics, age, and other factors. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), around one-half of all people diagnosed with congestive heart failure will survive beyond five years.

How serious is congestive heart failure?

Yes, CHF is among the most serious diseases in the United States today. The fatigue and shortness of breath associated with CHF can be very debilitating, leaving some patients unable to perform even their activities of daily living such as cooking, cleaning, and grooming themselves. This level of disability severely affects their quality of life.

What are the early signs of heart failure?

What are the common early symptoms of heart failure in adults?

• Shortness of breath. There are many reasons you could be experiencing shortness of breath. ...
• Fatigue and weakness. Feeling tired and run down over an extended period is called fatigue. ...
• Swelling and weight gain. ...
• Frequent dry cough. ...
• Trouble sleeping. ...
• Loss of appetite or nausea. ...
• Heart palpitations. ...

What is the prognosis for congestive heart failure?

The prognosis for CHF is based on five-year mortality (death) rates. This measure is used to estimate short- and long-term survival rates from the time that your CHF is diagnosed and treatment begins. Some 6.2 million adults in the United States have been diagnosed with heart failure. The five-year survival rate is about 50% for all stages.

How to manage congestive heart failure?

One of the most important things for managing congestive heart failure is to take medications consistently and according to instructions. Know which drugs the person you’re caring for needs to take and how often they should take them. Also find out what to do if they miss a dose.

How to get someone with congestive heart failure to exercise?

Simply parking farther away from the store or taking the stairs instead of the elevator can add more physical activity to their day. Housework and gardening are great ways for someone with congestive heart failure to get some exercise. You might also encourage them to join you in a morning walk around the neighborhood.

How to help a caregiver?

As a caregiver, you can help your loved one maximize their quality and length of life. Below are some ways to help. Keep alert for worsening symptoms . Call the doctor immediately if you observe any of the following: Sudden weight gain (three or more pounds in one or two days) Increased swelling in the legs or ankles.

How does heart failure feel?

Or at later stages, they may have difficulty with everyday activities, like walking up stairs or carrying groceries. They may feel more fatigued than usual because their cells aren’t getting the nutrients they need. Fluid in their lungs can cause shortness of breath — especially when lying down — or it might accumulate in the legs or ankles, causing painful swelling.

What to do if you miss a dose?

Also find out what to do if they miss a dose. If they live alone, you can fill a pillbox with the medications they should take each day of the week. You can also post a simple daily medication schedule on their refrigerator or in their bathroom so they can check off each dose as they take it.

What does it mean when your heart stops working?

The term “heart failure” is something of a misnomer. It makes it sound like the heart has stopped working, but that isn’t really the case. What congestive heart failure means is that the heart isn’t pumping efficiently enough to keep up with the body’s needs. “Heart inefficiency” might be a better term. With the proper treatment and lifestyle changes, many people with congestive heart failure can lead active lives for many years.

How to keep heart failure from worsening?

To keep heart failure from worsening, a patient must make major changes in their life: They’ll need to eat differently, remember to take their medications, keep as active as possible, and reduce stress. Some of these changes might require breaking habits acquired over many years.

How to treat CHF?

Medical treatment for CHF may involve treatments to reduce the amount of fluid in the body. This may ease some of the strain on the heart and improve its ability to pump blood. Doctors may prescribe diuretics to help the body eliminate excess liquid. Common diuretics include hydrochlorothiazide, bumetanide, and furosemide.

How to improve quality of life in CHF patients?

Regular aerobic exercise may improve heart health and lead to a better quality of life in patients with CHF. Guidance states that physical conditioning can improve quality of life, exercise tolerance, and reduce hospitalization rates in patients with heart failure.

Why does my heart stay in the ventricle?

In a person with CHF the muscles of the heart may become too stiff, or too weak to pump blood efficiently. This causes the blood to stay in the ventricle rather than pushing it out. The blood remaining in the heart can cause fluid retention.

How long do you live with CHF?

Some studies estimate a 5-year survival rate of close to 50% for a person diagnosed with heart failure.

What is the survival rate of all type heart failure?

A 2019 meta‐analysis estimated that the 1-, 2-, 5-, and 10‐year survival rates of all-type heart failure are 87%, 73%, 57% , and 35%, respectively, although life expectancy for a person with CHF has substantially improved over time.

What is a chronic, progressive condition that affects heart function?

Lifestyle changes. Summary. Congestive heart failure is a chronic, progressive condition that affects heart function. It can be life-threatening if left untreated. Congestive heart failure (CHF), or simply heart failure, affects the heart’s ability to pump blood around the body. Despite its name, CHF does not mean that the heart has failed ...

What are the stages of heart disease?

A second classification system, defined by the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association, details four stages of heart disease. They are: 1 Stage A: A person has a high risk of heart failure but currently has no identifiable disorders. 2 Stage B: A person has a structural heart disorder but is not presenting symptoms. 3 Stage C: A person has current or prior symptoms of heart failure associated with an underlying condition. 4 Stage D: A person currently has advanced structural heart disease, shows clear symptoms, and requires specialized medical intervention.

What is stage A in CHF?

Stage A is considered the first stage of CHF. Technically, people in this stage are considered “pre-heart failure.” 1 This means that you are at higher risk of developing CHF because of your family history, personal health history, and lifestyle choices.

What is the term for a heart failure that can't pump blood?

Congestive heart failure (CHF) happens when the heart becomes weak and can’t pump blood effectively to meet the demands of your body. It’s a chronic condition that worsens over time, and there are four stages of the disease. These stages range from “high risk of developing heart failure” to “advanced heart failure.” 1

What is stage B in heart failure?

Stage B is the second stage of heart failure, but it’s still considered pre-heart failure. You don’t have symptoms of heart failure, but you may have been diagnosed with systolic left ventricular dysfunction, which is reduced power in the left ventricle of your heart. The left ventricle is the chamber of the heart that sends oxygen-rich blood out to other parts of your body.

What is the treatment for stage A?

Treatment options in stage A mainly focus on promoting your overall health and disease prevention. If you meet the stage A criteria, your doctor will recommend lifestyle changes to slow or stop disease progression.

Is heart failure a progressive disease?

Heart failure is a chronic, progressive disease. Once you have reached a certain stage, you may be able to slow its progression, but you can’t undo damage that has already been done to the heart. For this reason, prevention is a key strategy, especially for people with risk factors of CHF.

Can you go backwards with CHF?

As your CHF gets worse, your heart muscle pumps less blood to your organs and you progress through the stages. You cannot go backward even with treatment. Therefore, the goal of treatment is to stop you from progressing or to slow down the progression.

Can heart failure be delayed?

However, if caught early, it’s possible to delay or stop disease progression with lifestyle changes and medications. If you have risk factors of heart failure, discuss with your doctor how best to prevent developing the condition.

How to help heart health?

Eat a heart-healthy diet: Daily food intake should be low in trans fats, rich in whole grains, and low in sodium and cholesterol.

Why does systolic congestive heart failure happen?

It may happen for a variety of reasons such as a weak heart muscle or underlining health problems. There are several stages of systolic congestive heart failure and each stage requires a different treatment. Lifestyle changes, medication, and surgery are typical methods of treatment. Read the article in Spanish.

How many stages of systolic heart failure are there?

There are four different stages of systolic heart failure: A, B, C, and D.

Why does HF happen?

It may happen when the heart muscle is too weak or when another health problem prevents it from circulating blood efficiently. Over time, systolic congestive heart failure, or heart failure (HF), can lead to dysfunction of other organs due to inefficient pumping. This article discusses how HF progresses over time and explains ...

How to prevent HF?

To prevent or slow the progression of HF, people should take the following steps: Maintain a healthy body weight: Excess body weight can place strain on the heart and increase the risk of more damage to the heart. Exercise regularly: The AHA recommends getting 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise every week.

Is HF more likely to occur in people with other conditions or lifestyle factors that weaken the heart?

HF is more likely to occur in people with other conditions or lifestyle factors that weaken the heart.

Does HF have any problems?

People with this stage HF have no problems with the structure of the heart or how their heart works. Treatment should focus on managing risk factors.

What causes congestive heart failure?

Conditions that can damage heart muscle and lead to congestive heart failure include: 1 Untreated or poorly treated high blood pressure and defective heart valves which can strain the heart 2 Coronary artery disease which decreases blood to the muscle fibers of the heart 3 A heart attack that causes scarring of heart muscle 4 Infections of the heart muscle or heart valves 5 Problems such as diabetes, thyroid, liver, kidney, and lung disease

What is the treatment for stage D heart failure?

Treatment options include: Medicines that improve heart function and oxygen therapy as needed.

What is stage D CHF?

By stage D or advanced CHF, a person progresses toward death as her heart failure gets worse. Despite treatment, symptoms are severe even at rest and any physical activity makes them worse. At this stage, the function of the heart and lungs is severely compromised.

Why do doctors remove fluid from the belly?

As the disease advances and symptoms get worse, doctors might continue to remove fluid from the belly to improve comfort . When treatment options no longer work, and the person gets near to death, management is geared to making her feel comfortable. According to the American Heart Association, the patient and family should consider the need for palliative or hospice care ahead of this juncture.

What happens at stage C of the heart?

At Stage C, as the heart continues to fail, the person develops weakness and significant fatigue, shortness of breath or palpitations with the slightest physical exertion. She begins to limit activity because of these symptoms as she is only comfortable when resting.

Why is salt intake reduced?

Decreased salt intake because extra salt holds on to fluid in the body. Fluid restriction: In the early stages if the person is still able to drink, she is restricted to about four glasses a day otherwise her IV fluids might be kept low. Doctors might consider a pacemaker or heart transplant if appropriate.

What are the symptoms of CHF stage B?

In stage B, the person develops mild symptoms of fatigue, shortness of breath, or heart palpitations with routine physical activity. There are minor signs of heart dysfunction on a doctor's ...

How to improve long term prognosis for heart failure?

Although some risk factors of heart failure, like age, can’t be modified, people with CHF can take actions to improve their long-term prognosis. The first step is to become familiar with any family history of heart disease and learn about all the possible symptoms. Don't ignore suspicious symptoms: let your healthcare provider know about them. Regular exercise and managing concurrent conditions can also help keep CHF under control.

How long after hospitalization for heart failure?

Heart failure relapses that require hospitalization often indicate a bad outcome. These symptomatic relapses also point to progression of the condition. The 30 days after initial hospitalization are viewed as a high-risk period and require intensive follow-up and monitoring.

What is the second type of heart failure?

The second main type of heart failure is called heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, or systolic heart failure.

What is the prognosis of CHF?

Prognosis depends on the stage and cause of CHF, as well as a person’s age, sex, and socioeconomic status. Stages of CHF range from A to D. Stage A: High risk for heart failure, but without structural heart disease or symptoms of heart failure.

How many people with diabetes have heart failure?

Among people with diabetes, 25% have chronic heart failure and up to 40% have acute heart failure. Consequently, people with diabetes and heart failure are treated and managed by cardiologists. To reduce the risk of death, continued blood glucose control is also key.

What are the causes of CHF?

Health conditions that can contribute to CHF include coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, cardiac arrhythmia, heart valve disease, alcoholism, or a previous heart attack .

How long do you live with CHF?

A review published in 2017 that examined prognosis of chronic heart failure in patients in a managed community environment or an outpatient setting reported the following average survival rates for persons with CHF: 80-90% after one year (versus 97% of the general population); 50-60% by the fifth year (versus 85% of the general population); and about 30% by year 10 (versus 75% of the general population.)

How long does it take to get relief from congestive heart failure?

For congestive heart failure, start with 180 mg daily and increase to 360 mg over three weeks. Significant relief from symptoms may take a few weeks to months. If you are generally healthy and are interested in preventive health, take 30-60 mg daily.

What causes heart failure?

The heart does not simply "fail" on its own, even though the underlying cause might not easily be figured out. Why is this important? Because the treatment that's right for you will need to take into account many factors that are unique to your situation: 1 The stage of your disease 2 The nature and severity of your congestive heart failure symptoms 3 Your sensitivity to traditional cardiac drugs 4 Your tolerance for side effects 5 Other factors and circumstances that might be contributing to (and possibly be the primary cause of) your heart's weakened state.

What are the factors that determine the treatment that's right for you?

Because the treatment that's right for you will need to take into account many factors that are unique to your situation: The stage of your disease. The nature and severity of your congestive heart failure symptoms. Your sensitivity to traditional cardiac drugs. Your tolerance for side effects.

Why do cardiologists scoff at natural medicine?

Unfortunately, there are still too many cardiologists who not only fail to recommend it but actually scoff at the idea, perhaps because they've been trained to believe that anything natural can't be as effective as a highly engineered drug.

What causes a weakened heart?

These might include high blood pressure, cigarette smoking, diabetes, alcoholism, damaged heart valves, previous heart attacks, deficiencies of vital nutrients, stress, anger … and the list goes on.

Is congestive heart failure a symptom of heart failure?

However, congestive heart failure is only a symptom of an underlying problem. The heart does not simply "fail" on its own, even though the underlying cause might not easily be figured out.

Is there a medication for congestive heart failure?

Treating Congestive Heart Failure. The medical community has come a long way in the treatment of congestive heart failure, and for many patients, traditional medicine is effective. Prescription medication, in particular, can dramatically alleviate symptoms. However, as with all strong drugs, the side effects can be almost as problematic as ...

How to deal with heart failure?

Get a good night's sleep. Follow your treatment plan. Set and follow a realistic daily schedule. Join a support group or even cardiac rehab. Confronting Sexual Issues. Heart failure can affect all aspects of your life, including having the energy, desire, or ability to participate in sexual intercourse.

How to treat heart failure while maintaining a productive life?

By making lifestyle changes, you can take an active role in treating your heart failure while maintaining a productive life. This article addresses many lifestyle questions you may have and offers tips that should make performing daily activities easier.

How to get back to work after heart attack?

The following tips should make your transition back to work easier. Plan periods of rest. Be sure to get plenty of rest.

How to get your heart to work again?

Increase your activities slowly, and always listen to your body so you know when it's time to take a rest break. Exercise in a cardiac rehabilitation facility can help strengthen your heart and increase your stamina.

How to get rid of negative feelings?

Counseling might help you feel better. Get dressed every day. Get out and walk every day. Keep up with activities or hobbies you enjoy. Share your feelings with your spouse, therapist, friend, or clergy person.

How to keep swelling down in legs?

When you rest, keep your feet up to keep the swelling in your legs down. Conserve your energy. Using less energy with daily tasks can help you have more energy to do more activities during the day. You may need to cut down on some of your activities or use energy-saving devices or techniques.

Can you work after heart failure?

If you have been in the hospital for your heart failure, your doctor will tell you how soon you can return to work after you go home. Your return to work will be based on your overall health, symptoms, and your rate of recovery. You should try to work as long as you are able.

What Happens If You Have Heart Failure?

People with heart failure have weak hearts that don’t work as well as they should. Over time, the illness causes significant damage to the body.

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.

Conclusion

End-stage heart failure is a severe form of chronic heart failure. Early intervention can help you manage heart failure, but you should work with your doctor to plan to live with your condition and improve your comfort if it gets worse.

Stage A

Stage B

Stage C

Stage D

Prevention

Summary

Frequently Asked Questions

• What should I expect in the end stage of congestive heart failure?
  In the end stages of heart failure, most physical activities will become difficult. You will likely require frequent or prolonged hospitalization or need home health or skilled nursing care. You may also need to wear oxygen or receive intravenous medications.
• What is the life expectancy for someone with congestive heart failure?
  Your quality of life and outlook depend on your treatment plan, how well you respond to treatment, and how well you follow your treatment plan.

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