WHAT IS HEART FAILURE AND ITS TREATMENT?

Posted by Dr. Mangesh Danej on March 18th, 2021

About heart failure

Heart failure is a chronic medical situation marked by the inability of the heart to perform its function of pumping blood to various organs of the body. It can be the outcome of many various factors all of which severely damage the patient’s heart and heart muscles, posing a serious threat to the patient’s life. The treatment for heart failure is possible at all the leading heart clinics. In case of heart failure, the patient requires to be immediately rushed to the hospital where a detailed diagnosis is done for proper assessment and the treatment is planned accordingly.

As far as the treatment is concerned, the problem can be tackled only after proper diagnosis which helps the doctor to determine the adversity of the patient’s condition and the extent to which the problem has spread. As per the Heart Specialist in Pune, the sooner the problem is diagnosed, the better is the survival rate after treatment.

Screening

The best heart failure clinic in Pune have their specialized labs where several tests and screenings are performed which include blood tests, chest X-ray, electrocardiogram (ECG), stress test, cardiac computerized tomography (CT) scan, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), coronary angiogram and myocardial biopsy.

Stages-

Based on these tests, a Cardiologist classifies heart failure into four different stages.

Stage I – the patient does not feel any signs and the problem is usually identified unexpectedly.

Stage II – Patients do not experience any symptoms usually however these become evident when the patient over-exerts himself.

Stage III – patients feel extreme difficulty in performing day-to-day activities.

Stage IV – it is the most severe form of heart failure in which the patient feels chronic signs even at rest.

Treatment

Once the test and screenings are conducted and the stage is determined, the doctor’s device out a proper medical protocol to be undertaken. Heart failure is a chronic disease which means that it lasts for a lifetime and hence requires lifelong management. Treatment can have to develop the signs and also add some more years to the patient’s life. Doctors essentially try to target the underlying cause of heart failure and aim at preventing any further damage.

Initially, your Heart Specialist might recommend certain medicines which may help with the symptoms and help to reduce pain and discomfort. These include Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, Angiotensin II receptor blockers, Beta-blockers, Diuretics, Aldosterone antagonists, Inotropes, and Digoxin (Lanoxin).

Operation is normally suggested when all the treatment options fail to work. The operation helps to fix any irregularity or restore the normal working of the heart wherever possible. These aim at the patch as well as the replacement of the affected part the most common surgeries used to treat patients suffering from chronic heart failure include coronary bypass surgery, heart valve repair operation, and heart valve replacement operation. The surgery can be carried out using the traditional open-heart technique via new minimally invasive cardiac surgery methods.

In some states, certain implantable devices are also used to assist the heart in performing its function. These include ventricular assist devices.

About all these treatment methods, healthy lifestyle changes are also recommended by the best specialists to keep the problem under control. These include a healthful and well-balanced diet and an active lifestyle. The patients require to avoid smoking and drinking and abstain from the consumption of unhealthy fat products as these can increase the cholesterol levels in the body which is extremely harmful to the heart.