Changing Lifestyles, Changing Habits: Managing Heart Failure?
When you have heart failure, your heart can’t pump blood
throughout your body efficiently. It’s important to remember that if you have
heart failure, it doesn’t mean your heart has failed; it simply means that your
heart isn’t working as well as it should.
Heart failure develops over time, as your heart becomes
weaker. It can affect the left side of the heart or the right side. If the right
side is affected, the heart can’t pump enough blood to the lungs. If the left
side is affected, the heart can’t pump enough blood to the rest of the body.
Sometimes, both sides of the heart are affected.
Who is most at risk?
The two highest risk groups for heart failure are
- People who are 65 or older. (Heart failure is the number
one reason for hospital visits among people in this age group.)
- African Americans
Factors that increase your risk of heart failure include:
- An overactive thyroid
- An infection in the heart muscle
- Extreme obesity
- High blood pressure
- Damaged heart valves
Signs of heart failure
One of the most common signs of heart failure is shortness
of breath. This is caused by excess fluid in the lungs. It can happen when
you’re at rest or when you’re exercising. Other signs include
- Sudden weight gain
- Swelling in the legs or ankles
- Swelling or pain in the abdomen
- Trouble sleeping, and waking up short of breath
- Dry, hacking cough
- Loss of appetite
- Feeling tired all the time
Most of the time, people don’t notice heart failure
symptoms until the condition has been present for quite a while—sometimes even
years. That’s because your heart adjusts to the pumping difficulties by becoming
larger, by strengthening its muscle fibers and by contracting more frequently.
These adjustments can delay the symptoms, but eventually, the heart can’t keep
up, and the symptoms of heart failure appear.
What can heart failure patients do to control their
Heart failure is one of the most common health problems.
It’s a chronic condition that affects approximately 4.9 million people in this
country. When patients, along with their healthcare team, manage it well,
hospital visits are decreased, stays in the hospital are shorter and you feel
If you have heart failure, working closely in partnership
with your doctor and other members of your healthcare team to identify and
manage the factors that contribute to your condition is really the key. For
- If you smoke, talk with your doctor about ways to quit.
Studies have shown that people who get help from their doctors have a higher
- If you notice that any of your symptoms are getting
worse, or if you notice any new symptoms, report them to your doctor right
- Work closely with a dietitian or nutritionist or
diabetes educator to figure out how you should be eating. Eating the right
food is a key component of care. Have you learned how to limit salt when you
cook? If you have diabetes, are you doing everything you can to keep your
blood sugar under control? Are you sure your portion sizes are about right?
These kinds of things can make a big difference in helping you feel better and
slowing down the progression of your condition.
What about alternative remedies for heart failure?
Before we say anything about these, the number one thing
for you to know is that you should not take any medication—prescription,
over-the-counter, herb, supplement or anything else—without discussing it with
your doctor. And by all means, don’t ever stop taking your prescribed
medication, even if you do investigate some of the alternative remedies out
There are two alternative remedies that may be beneficial
for some people who have heart disease:
- Coenzyme Q10 (also called coQ10): This is an antioxidant
that some studies indicate may help strengthen the heart cells in people with
- Hawthorn (360 milligrams daily): This herb is popular in
Europe. It has been shown in some studies to decrease the symptoms of heart
failure and to help reduce blood pressure somewhat.
If you’re interested in trying either of these two
alternatives, talk with your doctor about whether they would be safe for you. If
you don’t have heart failure but you’re in a high risk group, you may also want
to ask whether it would be a good idea to take coenzyme Q10 or hawthorn for
For additional information about heart failure treatment at
Catholic Healthcare Partners, read “Congestive Heart Failure: New Initiative
Improves Patient Care,” from the February/March 2004 issue of our Healthy Heart
The National Heart,
Lung, and Blood Institute; Pharmacotherapy, July 2001; K. Pelletier,
The Best Alternative Medicine, Simon & Schuster, 2000