Heart Failure
Women think of heart disease as an old person's disease and a good way to die, ... But heart failure is every bit as bad as cancer, and the death rate is higher - Martha Hill

image by: Heart Failure Aware
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Failing Patients With Heart Failure
HEART disease is the world’s No. 1 killer, despite advances in medical technology, as well as public health initiatives that have eased the burden of heart disease drastically. While one marvels at the progress, we often ignore how heart-disease patients die.
Patients with heart disease are more likely to suffer excessively at the end of life than those with other conditions. While surveys show that people overwhelmingly want to die at home, patients with cardiovascular disorders are much less likely to do so than patients with other diseases, such as cancer.
All heart disease, as it progresses, results in heart failure, or a gradual weakening of the heart. Patients commonly…
Resources
High-protein diets are linked to heightened risk for heart disease, even for vegetarians
Despite the popularity of such diets, the research on how they impact heart health has been relatively scant. A new study, though, published this week by the American Heart Association, shows that eating a lot of protein—derived from both plants and animals—is linked to an elevated risk of cardiovascular failure.
Moderate Drinking May Benefit Heart Failure Patients
After a diagnosis of heart failure, moderate drinkers tended to live longer than those who drank more heavily or didn’t drink at all.
Scant Evidence Behind the Advice About Salt
Low-sodium diets are widely recommended for people who have a variety of ailments, but there’s little proof they help those with heart failure.
Should you be worried about ibuprofen causing heart failure?
A strength of the study is that it looked at a very large number of patient records, and combined five different sources of data from four European countries, meaning that the effects found are more likely to be widely applicable and less likely to be a quirk of one particular study group.
Stem Cell Therapy for Heart Failure Gets a Gold-Standard Trial
Promising results from the new trial would be a major step forward for a field that has long been criticized for studies that are poorly designed, incomplete or lack control-group comparisons, as well as for the peddling of unproved therapies in many clinics worldwide.
Tiny Device Is a ‘Huge Advance’ for Treatment of Severe Heart Failure
A clip used to repair damaged heart valves sharply reduced deaths among patients with a grim prognosis.
When Your Heart Fails You
My heart is broken. But not the way you think I mean. It’s actually broken. Doctors call it heart failure, but since I’m not the type of person who likes to fail at anything, I’ll just say that it is broken. It’s permanent, though, and that’s the hardest thing for me to accept. My heart can no longer do the things it was born to do, and it never will again.
Geriatrics: Managing Congestive Heart Failure
Congestive heart failure (CHF) in the elderly is a quiet, complicated problem. The condition, which can stem from a range of structural or functional cardiac disorders, is compounded by the effects of old age. CHF often goes undiagnosed, particularly in mild cases, and yet even with the best therapy it is associated with an annual mortality of 10%.
The Design Bias of Heart Failure
The lone artificial heart on the market fit 80 percent of men and only 20 percent of women. But the bias here is deeper than that.
Essentials of the Diagnosis of Heart Failure
The clinical syndrome of heart failure manifests when cellular respiration becomes impaired because the heart cannot pump enough blood to support the metabolic demands of the body, or when normal cellular respiration can only be maintained with an elevated left ventricular filling pressure.
Failing Patients With Heart Failure
Patients with heart disease are more likely to suffer excessively at the end of life than those with other conditions. While surveys show that people overwhelmingly want to die at home, patients with cardiovascular disorders are much less likely to do so than patients with other diseases, such as cancer. All heart disease, as it progresses, results in heart failure, or a gradual weakening of the heart.
Heart Failure Aware
We are making heart failure clearer for everyone.
Heart Failure Society of America
The Heart Failure Society of America, Inc. (HFSA) represents the first organized effort by heart failure experts from the Americas to provide a forum for all those interested in heart function, heart failure, and congestive heart failure (CHF) research and patient care.
HeartFailureMatters.org
www.heartfailurematters.org is an interactive, multilingual, educational website containing animations, videos and tools for patients with heart failure, their families and carers.
HeartMate
Heart Hope is a network of healthcare professionals dedicated to advancing the treatment of heart failure. Its mission is to communicate a message of hope and empowerment to heart failure patients, families and caregivers. We invite you to explore this website to discover how every day can be a new beginning for you or someone you love who suffers from heart failure.
National Heart Lung and Blood Institute
Heart failure is a condition in which the heart can''t pump blood the way it should. In some cases, the heart can''t fill with enough blood. In other cases, the heart can''t send blood to the rest of the body with enough force. Some people have both problems.
British Heart Foundation
While there isn't a cure for heart failure at the moment, the treatment to control symptoms has improved dramatically. With treatment and the right medicines many people live full and active lives. Your doctor will prescribe drugs that will help control your blood pressure and help the pumping action of your heart.
eMedicineHealth
Heart failure sounds frightening because it sounds like the heart just stops working. Do not be discouraged by the term heart failure, the heart has not stopped beating or pumping. Heart failure means the tissues of the body are temporarily not receiving enough blood and oxygen. With advancements in diagnosis and therapy for heart failure, patients are feeling better and living longer.
Heart Foundation
The Heart Foundation’s paper "Multidisciplinary care for people with chronic heart failure" provides principles and recommendations to help health professionals and policy makers establish and maintain best-practice chronic heart failure management programs in Australia. It also aims to improve clinical outcomes and quality of life for people with chronic heart failure.
HeartPoint
The term "Heart Failure" can be scary, and is misleading. The heart does not "fail" in the sense that it suddenly stops. It doesn't mean that you're about to die. It means the heart is not working as efficiently as it should.
HeartSite.com
How serious is CHF? Each year, approximately a quarter of a million people die from heart failure.
Mayo Clinic
Heart failure, also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), means your heart can't pump enough blood to meet your body's needs. Over time, conditions such as coronary artery disease or high blood pressure gradually leave your heart too weak or stiff to fill and pump efficiently.
MedicineNet
Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a condition in which the heart's function as a pump to deliver oxygen rich blood to the body is inadequate to meet the body's needs. Congestive heart failure can be caused by 1) diseases that weaken the heart muscle, 2 diseases that cause stiffening of the heart muscles, or 3) diseases that increase oxygen demand by the body tissue beyond the capability of the heart to deliver.
MedlinePlus
Heart failure, also called congestive heart failure, is a life-threatening condition in which the heart can no longer pump enough blood to the rest of the body.

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