Early sighs of heart failure.

Our heart is a basic organ of our health. Heart pumps the blood to all parts of our body. Different factors effect our heart health making it weak . A weak heart may lead to heart failure. With a  weak heart, there could be some early signs of heart failure. Heart failure is a life threatening condition. It is important for every one to know early signs of heart failure. An early diagnosis can help a person to manage it properly and get necessary  treatment.

Contents:

• Early signs.
• Diagnosis.
• Treatment.
• Prevention.

Early signs :

There are some early signs of heart failure . These early signs  of heart failure are a type of warning . These early signs include :

• Tiredness even with enough rest.
• Loss of  energy at once.
• Chest congestion .
• Activities difficult.
• Swelling on ankles/ legs.
• Short breathing, specially when lying .
• Chronic cough.

Less common symptoms:

There are some less common symptoms of heart failure. These  are:

• Loss of appetite.
• Feeling full immediate after eating.
• Coughing while lying down.
• Cough with pink mucus.
• Heart palpitation.
• Chest pain.

Diagnosis:

If any one with heart condition experience above early signs of heart failure, he/she should immediately consult a doctor. Doctor then will suggest some tests to diagnose heart failure based on person’s symptoms severity and ejection fraction . The ejection fraction is  the proportion of blood, the left ventricle pumps out with each beat. The doctor may recommend an echocardiogram or electrocardiogram to find  the activity in the heart and  judge how well it is pumping blood. The doctor can also recommend the following test:

• Blood test.
• Magnetic resonance imaging ( MRI) .
• Computed tomography ( CT ) scan.
• Cardiac catheterization
• Stress testing.

The doctor will examine all tests and then will suggest some medication and prevention . Doctor will also suggest the suitable daily  exercises . Some exercises are not good for heart patients.

Treatment:

The treatment goal for heart failure include medication to lower the risk of heart failure , hospitalization and death. We believe a person’s death time is fixed and he/she will not die before that time. When that time will come ? No body knows. Why we should not lose the hope for better !.  Medications are our hope. Medications may reduce the early signs of heart failure.

The doctor may prescribe the following :

• Beta blockers
• Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor.
• Angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibitor (ARN).
• Angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB).

Heads up : =======  It is strongly advised to check side effects of above mentioned medicine before taking them. Some of the above medicine have bad effects on human kidneys.

It is also advised to change life style as under :

• Be active in daily life.
• Eat less sodium.
• Eat a balanced diet.
• Reduce alcohol intake.
• Quit smoking.
•   Treatment of  hypertension and high cholesterol is very important in treating heart failure.

Prevention:

There are some life style change which may reduce risk of developing heart failure. These are :

• Quitting smoking.
• Treating some conditions like diabetes.
• Keeping body weight maintained.
• Controlling cholesterol .To know better about cholesterol. please read  “ Let us know our cholesterol , part -1 “
• Reducing sodium intake.
• Being  active.

source: medicalnewstoday.com

Heart failure is a scary condition. It can happen any time. We can try to make it less life threatening with some medication and changing our life style.

We always pray to All-Mighty Allah to bless every one with good health.