Objectives
After viewing this brochure, you will be able to describe heart failure and 2 ways to help manage your condition at home and decrease hospital admissions
What is Heart failure?
What can you do to stay healthy at home?
It is important to eat a low sodium diet. Eat a well-balanced diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables and low in saturated fat. Include plenty of whole grains. Buy a scale to weigh yourself at home and record your weight daily. It should be done each morning after you urinate. Discuss with your doctor when he would like you to call about weight gain or weight loss. Buy an automatic blood pressure machine and take your blood pressure and pulse daily. Call your doctor if the values are out of the range discussed with your doctor Please ask your healthcare provider for more ways to manage your condition at home.
Cardiomyopathy means heart disease. Cardiomyopathy can be caused by many different things including, but not limited to, pregnancy, drug use, or a virus. This type of heart disease causes an enlarged heart which leads to reduced pumping by the heart. If the condition does not resolve, the patient will develop heart failure. Heart failure is a chronic condition where the heart cannot pump blood efficiently to meet the bodies need. ("Cardiomyopathy and Pregnancy," 2004)
References
Cardiomyopathy and Pregnancy. (2004). Retrieved October 9, 2015, from http://womensheart.org/content/HeartDisease/cardio myopathy_and_pregnancy.asp HFSA 2010 comprehensive heart failure practice guideline. (2010). Journal of Cardiac Failure, 16(6), e61e72. Retrieved from http://www.hfsa.org/hfsawp/content/uploads/2015/04/HFSA-2010-HFGuidelines-Section-06.pdf
WAYS TO MANAGE HEART FAILURE AT HOME