Health and Wellness
Often times, the heart works against its own failure by employing temporary fixes like building more muscle mass, enlarging, and pumping faster. It also may divert oxygen and nutrient-rich blood away from less important body tissues to lighten its workload. Although these things may help initially, they will only further heart damage in the long run. This is why it is so important to tell your doctor right away if you are experiencing any symptoms of heart failure. Treating heart failure may be as simple as making changes to your daily lifestyle. These changes may include quitting smoking, weight loss, and being more physically active. Following a doctor’s recommendations about healthy changes to your everyday life can significantly reduce heart failure symptoms. Often times, those living with moderate heart failure can lead relatively normal lives if they commit to a healthier lifestyle. “Depending on the severity of the case, heart failure patients are
typically treated with dietary restrictions and other lifestyle changes first,” said Sykes. “Doctors have their patients avoid alcohol, smoking and caffeine and schedule exercise to work toward a healthier heart.” In more severe cases, healthcare providers prescribe medications and may recommend a device such as a pacemaker or CardioMems be implanted to help with monitoring the heart rate function. Sturgill stressed that the decision to surgically implant any device is one made after discussion between doctor and patient. “Heart failure can be a scary diagnosis,” said Sturgill. “Doctors always do their best to work with the patient to make the right health Spring 2017
care choices for that individual. Patients are encouraged to ask questions and may be consulted with other specialized doctors before making a decision and be followed up in heart failure clinic.” Individuals who believe they may have or be at risk for heart failure are encouraged to make an appointment with their doctor right away. The earlier heart failure is treated, the better chance a patient has for leading a normal life. “We want to get patients back to their daily lives with as few changes as possible,” said Sykes. “The sooner we see an individual with heart failure, the better those chances are.”
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