Heart failure (congestive heart failure) is America’s silent epidemic
affecting nearly five million Americans of all ages and is responsible
for more hospitalizations than all forms of cancer combined. Over 400,000
new cases of heart failure will be diagnosed in the next year. Yet many
people with heart failure are not aware that they have it. Some of the
most common symptoms of heart failure include feeling tired or short of
breath which are often mistaken for normal signs of getting older.
Heart failure does not mean that the heart is about to stop working or
that you are about to die. Heart failure is a common condition that usually
develops slowly as the heart muscle weakens and needs to work harder to
keep blood flowing through the body.
Valley Health’s Heart Failure Clinic, located in the Clyde A. Smith
Heart & Vascular Center at Winchester Medical Center, can assist you
in the management of heart failure. Being followed in the clinic allows
patients to be monitored closely for signs and symptoms that may otherwise
cause a hospital admission. Our goal is to see patients as often as needed
to keep them out of the hospital and to improve the patient and family
members’ quality of life.
Risk Factors
High blood pressure
Prior heart attack
Damage to the heart valves
Diabetes
Family history of enlarged heart
Symptoms
Shortness of breath, which can happen from mild activity
Difficulty breathing when lying down
Waking up breathless in the middle of the night
Weight gain with swelling in the legs and ankles from fluid retention
Tiring easily
Feeling tired all the time
Dry, hacking cough when lying flat in bed
Treatment
Medications are available to relieve your symptoms and to help keep your
heart failure from getting worse
For certain heart failure patients, the CardioMEMS Heart Failure System
may be recommended to help manage their condition
Valley Health currently is enrolling qualified heart failure patients into
the Ancora Heart CORCINCH-HF Study, a randomized clinical trial designed
to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the AccuCinch® Ventricular
Restoration System. Ask your provider if you are a candidate for this trial.
Prevention
Eat a heart healthy low salt diet
Get regular exercise
Weigh yourself daily and report increases in weight to your doctor
Avoid smoking and alcohol
Early diagnosis and treatment are very important. Today, doctors can do
more than ever, so many people with heart failure can live normal lives
and be less at risk for being hospitalized. Only your doctor can tell
you if you have heart failure.
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