Heart Failure
- Diagnosis, Imaging, Screening
- General Information
- Guidelines
- Internet Sites
- Rehabilitation
- Risk Factors
- Risk Reduction
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Heart Failure
NIH - Heart Failure: Summary "Heart failure is a condition where the heart cannot pump enough blood throughout the body. ... The most common symptoms of heart failure are shortness of breath, feeling tired, and swelling in the ankles, feet, legs, and sometimes the abdomen."
NIH - Medical Encyclopedia Heart failure "The most common causes of heart failure are hypertension (high blood pressure) and coronary artery disease (for example, you have had a heart attack). Other structural or functional causes of heart failure include the following: • Valvular heart disease • Congenital heart disease • Dilated cardiomyopathy • Lung disease • Heart tumor Heart failure becomes more common with advancing age. You are also at increased risk for developing heart failure if you are overweight, have diabetes, smoke cigarettes, abuse alcohol, or use cocaine."
NHS – Heart Failure “Symptoms of heart failure The main symptom of heart failure is extreme tiredness. This happens because of a lack of blood getting from your heart to your muscles. The other symptoms of heart failure tend to differ depending upon which side of your heart has been affected. Heart failure on the left Heart failure on the left side can also make you breathless. This can happen at any time but often happens when you are active or laying in bed. During the night you may feel the need to sit up in bed or even to get some fresh air. The breathlessness can also be accompanied by a cough and a frothy spit. Heart failure on the right The main symptom of heart failure on the right side is swollen ankles and legs because of excess fluid building up in the legs. The liver and stomach can also become enlarged, due to excess fluid. Heart failure on either or both sides Other symptoms of heart failure (on either side of the heart) can include: • dizziness, • feeling sick (nausea), • constipation, and • loss of appetite.”
Highlighted Articles
[Obesity and heart failure.] (Internist (Berl). 2008) “Obesity doubles the risk of heart failure independent of comorbidities like hypertension or coronary artery disease …”
Aerobic exercise reverses signs of heart failure "In an editorial, Dr. Stanley A. Rubin, at the UCLA School of Medicine, urges caution before starting heart failure patients on an exercise training program. Rubin outlines the considerations to be taken into account when starting a patient on an exercise training program -- including pre-training evaluation, as well as the type, degree, and venue of exercise training."
Superior Cardiovascular Effect of Aerobic Interval Training Versus Moderate Continuous Training in Heart Failure Patients. A Randomized Study. (Circulation. 2007) "CONCLUSIONS: Exercise intensity was an important factor for reversing LV remodeling and improving aerobic capacity, endothelial function, and quality of life in patients with postinfarction heart failure. These findings may have important implications for exercise training in rehabilitation programs and future studies."
Antithrombotic therapy for congestive heart failure. (Int J Clin Pract. 2006)
"Aspirin may be detrimental for heart failure due to a possible interaction with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, leading to increased hospitalisations from decompensated heart failure."
Visit InfoMedSearch's Home Page for all InfoMedLinks Cardiovascular Topics: Atherosclerosis, Atrial Fibrillation, Coronary Artery Disease, Cholesterol - Lipids, General Cardiovascular, Heart Failure, Hypertension, Myocardial Infarction (Heart Attack), Peripheral Artery Disease, and Stroke.
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Notes
View Treatment Guidelines from previous years. Go to Treatment for each year.
Heart Failure
Daily Treatment Report
Cognitive Therapy-CBT-Psychotherapy
Device Therapy
Drug Side-Effects and Interactions
Drugs
Testosterone Encouraging in the Elderly With Heart Failure
Anticoagulation in patients with heart failure and normal sinus rhythm. (Am J Health Syst Pharm. 2009)
Exercise
ACC 2009: HF-ACTION on Exercise Training in Heart Failure: Refrain, No Gain “Patients with chronic heart failure who enter into an exercise training program may have only a modestly better survival and lower hospitalization risk than those who aren't prescribed exercise, but they are significantly more likely to feel in overall better health [1], concludes a randomized study that also suggests a training regimen can be safe in such patients and that the more they stick with it, the better their clinical outcomes are likely to be … referred to lingering concerns that exercise might be hazardous for some patients with chronic heart failure. HF-ACTION, he said, helps to "justify" exercise training in heart failure by showing that it is safe. "Which is a major shift in treatment. When I came into cardiology in the early 70s, we discouraged exercise in heart-failure patients."
Body Mass Index and Vigorous Physical Activity and the Risk of Heart Failure Among Men (Circulation. 2009) "Conclusions- In this cohort of men, elevated BMI, even in the preobese range, was associated with an increased risk of HF, and vigorous physical activity was associated with a decreased risk. Public health measures to curtail excess weight, to maintain optimal weight, and to promote physical activity may limit the scourge of HF."
General Information
Impact of Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator, Amiodarone, and Placebo on the Mode of Death in Stable Patients With Heart Failure (Circulation. 2009)
Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy to Prevent Heart Failure: Gathering Momentum
The Management of Acute Heart Failure and Diuretic Therapy. (Am J Ther. 2009)
[Rate versus Rhythm Control with and without Heart Failure.] (Herz. 2008)
Guidelines
Influence of age on the management of heart failure: findings from Get With the Guidelines-Heart Failure (GWTG-HF). (Am Heart J. 2009)
Immunotherapy
Internet Sites
Treatment Information
Drug-Food-Supplement Information
DrugDigest (drug interactions)
FDA - Drug Interactions: What You Should Know
NIH - Botanical Dietary Supplements: Background Information
NIH - Drug, Supplements, and Herbal Information
NIH - Herbal Supplements: Consider Safety, Too
NIH - Vitamin and Mineral Supplement Fact Sheets
Nutrition
Other
Other Treatments
Experimental
Radiotherapy
Supplements-Vitamins-CAM
Omega-3 fatty acids and heart failure (Current Atherosclerosis Reports 2009)
A Fish Tale With Merit: Omega-3 PUFAs Underrated for Heart Failure “At least one observational study of dietary fish and heart-failure prevention showed a dose-response effect (p=0.009) when consumption levels of various types of fish were converted to omega-3 PUFA intake [3]. A number of potential omega-3 physiologic effects require multigram doses, according to Stanley. "A gram a day is low, I think. With that I'd say you're tickling the bottom of the curve for most effects of fish oil that you'd want for [treating] heart failure. You probably need three or four times that dose for an optimal benefit," he said to heartwire .”
-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation for the treatment of heart failure: mechanisms and clinical potential (Cardiovascular Research 2009)
B-vitamin deficiency in hospitalized patients with heart failure. (J Am Diet Assoc. 2009)
Surgery
Transplantation
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