CARDIAC FAILURE : MANAGEMENT OF HEART FAILURE

 MANAGEMENT OF HEART FAILURE

Not all conditions that lead to heart failure can be reversed, but treatments can improve the signs and symptoms of heart failure and help patients live longer. 

Lifestyle changes — such as exercising, reducing sodium in diet, managing stress and losing weight — can improve quality of life.

Treatment

Heart failure is a chronic disease needing lifelong management. However, with treatment, signs and symptoms of heart failure can improve, and the heart sometimes becomes stronger. 

Medications

Usually heart failure is treated by a combination of one or more medications.

These may include the medications given below:

Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors. 

These drugs help people with systolic heart failure live longer and feel better. ACE inhibitors are a type of vasodilator, a drug that widens blood vessels to lower blood pressure, improve blood flow and decrease the workload on the heart. Examples include enalapril (Vasotec), lisinopril (Zestril) and captopril (Capoten).

Angiotensin II receptor blockers. 

These drugs, which include losartan (Cozaar) and valsartan (Diovan), have many of the same benefits as ACE inhibitors. They may be an alternative for people who can't tolerate ACE inhibitors.

Beta blockers. 

This class of drugs not only slows heart rate and reduces blood pressure but also limits or reverses some of the damage to heart if a pt have systolic heart failure. Examples include carvedilol (Coreg), metoprolol (Lopressor) and bisoprolol (Zebeta).

These medicines reduce the risk of some abnormal heart rhythms and lessen your chance of dying unexpectedly. Beta blockers may reduce signs and symptoms of heart failure, improve heart function, and help  live longer.

Diuretics. 

Often called water pills, diuretics make patient urinate more frequently and keep fluid from collecting in the body. Diuretics, such as furosemide (Lasix), also decrease fluid in lungs so pt can breathe more easily.

Aldosterone Antagonists. 

These drugs include spironolactone (Aldactone) and eplerenone (Inspra). These are potassium-sparing diuretics, which also have additional properties that may help people with severe systolic heart failure live longer. They can cause hyperkalemia so monitoring of potassium levels is important in the blood.

Inotropes. 

These are intravenous medications used in people with severe heart failure in the hospital to improve heart pumping function and maintain blood pressure.

Digoxin (Lanoxin).

 This drug, also referred to as digitalis, increases the strength of your heart muscle contractions. It also tends to slow the heartbeat. Digoxin reduces heart failure symptoms in systolic heart failure. It may be more likely to be given to someone with a heart rhythm problem, such as atrial fibrillation.