Heart failure is commonly referred to as heart failure in daily life, which is related to impaired systolic and/or diastolic function of the heart. Heart failure is not just an isolated disease, but a series of severe stages of heart disease development. Therefore, everyone must pay attention to heart failure, understand the causes, prevent and treat it in a timely manner, and take good care of it.
Why does heart failure occur? Firstly, primary myocardial damage and excessive cardiac load are the basic causes of heart failure, and their triggers include respiratory infections; Arrhythmia and atrial fibrillation are important triggering factors, with excessive physiological or psychological stress such as overwork, vigorous exercise, emotional excitement, etc; Increased blood volume: such as excessive salt intake, excessive infusion, or too fast; Pregnancy and childbirth, as well as other conditions such as worsening of pre-existing heart disease.
In the past decades, with the aging of the population in China, the incidence rate of hypertension, diabetes, coronary heart disease and other diseases has increased year by year, even if the effective treatment of myocardial infarction and good control of hypertension. Many patients may gradually develop heart failure after several years, which is an important reason for the rapid increase in the number of heart failure cases in China.
2. Prevention methods for heart failure
Before suffering from any related diseases, develop good lifestyle habits including not overeating, not consuming too much salt, not smoking, exercising more, controlling weight, and avoiding chaotic lifestyle habits. If obesity has occurred, and you have suffered from hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, myocardial infarction, etc., it means that heart disease is beckoning to you, but it is not too late to change bad habits before you suffer from heart disease. Losing weight, lowering blood pressure, controlling sugar, and lowering blood lipids can reduce the risk of stroke and myocardial infarction. After suffering from myocardial infarction, arrhythmia, and other heart diseases due to insufficient improvement of lifestyle habits, you need to pay attention to preventing the recurrence of myocardial infarction to prevent the condition from progressing to heart failure. Not all people who suffer from heart diseases such as myocardial infarction will become heart failure patients. Generally speaking, acute heart failure often occurs suddenly under certain triggering factors, causing patients to feel difficulty breathing and even cardiogenic shock. If daily prevention can be done before the onset of acute heart failure, even if suffering from heart failure, the key to prevention at this stage is to prevent the acute deterioration of the condition. It is necessary to strictly follow the doctor's advice to take medication and avoid all factors that are not conducive to heart health and are highly likely to cause heart failure.
3. Timely treatment and good nursing care
Firstly, it is necessary to adhere to medication and regular follow-up. Even if heart failure patients find that their condition has improved, they should communicate with their doctors and obtain permission before stopping or reducing medication. They should not make unauthorized claims; If you find that your condition has worsened, it is even more important to seek medical attention promptly and not to increase the dosage of medication at will. Otherwise, both of these issues may cause serious side effects and easily lead to heart failure recurrence, even resulting in death. The treatment of heart failure is a long-term process. When the condition is stable, it is best to have a fixed doctor and follow up with a cardiovascular specialist every other cycle.
Pay attention to rest and control sodium intake. Controlling physical activity, avoiding mental stimulation, and reducing the burden on the heart are beneficial for the recovery of heart function. Depending on the condition, gradually increase symptom restrictive aerobic exercise, such as walking, starting from sitting at the bedside. The blood volume of patients with heart failure increases, and sodium retention occurs in the body. Therefore, reducing the intake of sodium salt is conducive to reducing edema symptoms.
Thirdly, it is important to maintain a positive mindset. Treating diseases, especially heart failure, requires not only medical techniques but also the patient's mindset. If the patient's mentality remains relatively negative and pessimistic, it will have a certain impact on the treatment of the disease, leading to long-term illness that cannot be cured. Therefore, everyone must maintain an optimistic state, achieve early prevention, early detection, and early treatment, in order to seize the opportunity for heart failure "improvement" and protect the peace of the "heart" together.