Heart Failure Archive

Articles

A new warning sign for heart failure: "Bendopnea"

If you have heart failure and become short of breath when you bend over, tell your doctor. This symptom may be a warning sign for a more serious type of heart failure that demands additional medication or other treatments.

That's according to cardiologists at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, who noticed that many of their patients with heart failure said that they became short of breath when they bent over to put on their shoes or socks. So the doctors recruited 102 people with heart failure for a study. Most were white men ages 60 to 65, and all were slated for a procedure to assess their heart function. Nearly a third of the participants had shortness of breath when bending over, or "bendopnea," as the cardiologists dubbed the symptom. They found that people with bendopnea had too much fluid in their bodies, which caused increased pressure and strain on the heart. Bending boosted the pressure even more.

Heart failure caused by an infection

 

 

 

 

 



Image: Thinkstock

An rare type of heart failure known as viral cardiomyopathy is triggered by a viral infection.

Most people with heart failure can trace it to long-standing cardiac risks. An unlucky few have a virus to blame.

5 Action Steps for Early Heart Failure

Early heart failure may be mild but can worsen quickly. Learn what you can do to keep symptoms in check.

Heart failure may start with injury from a heart attack, develop as a result of damaged valves, or be brought on by underlying disease. Many times, it is the product of years of toil by the heart against high blood pressure and clogged arteries. Regardless of what sets the process in motion, heart failure culminates in a progressive weakening of your heart's power to pump. Consequently, blood circulates through your heart and body more slowly; your cells thirst for fresh oxygen and nutrients.

New options to reboot the heart

Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators can prevent sudden cardiac arrest. Now more people can benefit.

Miniature electronic devices called implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) that detect and terminate rapid, irregular beats in the heart's lower chambers (ventricles)—a problem known as ventricular fibrillation—can be a lifesaver for people susceptible to deadly arrhythmias With recent technological advances, these devices are even safer and more available.

Fluid retention: What it can mean for your heart

 

Fluid buildup indicates worsening heart failure. Learn how to spot it and treat it early.

The buildup of excess fluid in your body can take a variety of forms from belly bloating and swollen ankles to nausea, persistent coughing and fatigue. You may be tempted initially to dismiss this hodgepodge of problems as having little to do with your heart. However, they all signal water retention, which can mean trouble for people with a history of heart failure.

Research we're watching: Living longer: Exercise at least as good as drugs











Photo: Thinkstock

If you have cardiovascular disease, exercise may boost your survival just as much as medications. That's according to a study in the medical journal BMJ that pooled data from more than 300 trials involving nearly 340,000 individuals. Researchers compared death rates among people with a history of stroke, coronary artery disease, heart failure, and prediabetes who were enrolled in trials that treated participants with exercise or medications.

They found that for stroke survivors, exercise lowered the odds of dying much more than taking medicines such as anti-clotting drugs, which are given to prevent future strokes. For people with coronary artery disease or early signs of diabetes, the benefits of exercise versus drugs were about the same. But for people with heart failure, diuretic drugs (used to treat fluid buildup and control blood pressure) were more effective than exercise and all other types of drug treatment.

Stay on top of heart failure symptoms

Heart failure — this dire-sounding term often brings to mind a heart that has beat its last. Not so. Heart failure means that the heart isn't able to pump enough blood to meet the body's needs. Common effects of heart failure include fatigue, shortness of breath, and swelling in the legs.

Many people are surprised to learn that heart failure is often a manageable condition. Taking medications, balancing exercise and rest, following a low-sodium diet, and being careful about fluid intake can help keep it in check. But heart failure can be unpredictable. After a long stretch of being under control, it can flare up, and even require a hospital stay.

Obese teens' hearts in trouble

Are your children or grandchildren caught up in America's obesity epidemic? If so, they may be on the fast track to heart diseases usually seen in older adults.

New imaging techniques show that the hearts of obese adolescents are undergoing changes that could soon put them on an irreversible path to heart failure.

Dietary vitamin E and heart failure

Men who consume the most vitamin E are at increased risk for heart failure, while those with the highest vitamin C levels have a lower heart failure risk, finds an 11-year study of men ages 60 to 79.

S. Goyha Wannamethee of University College London led the study, which followed nearly 4,000 men. In men who had a previous heart attack, high vitamin E consumption increased risk of heart failure by 23%.

Mental decline from arrhythmia

Researchers have long suspected that the atrial fibrillation, a heart rhythm disorder, might be linked to declines in memory and thinking skills. Atrial fibrillation is a big cause of stroke, which can harm memory and thinking skills. But can it cause those troubles in someone who hasn't had a stroke?

Researchers at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital tried to answer that question by reviewing 21 studies reporting this association. In 14 studies, people with atrial fibrillation had approximately a 30% increase in the risk of cognitive impairment or vascular dementia. In the seven studies that examined individuals after a stroke, those with atrial fibrillation had twice the risk of developing cognitive impairment or dementia.

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