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Is Congestive Heart Failure Reversible?

Congestive heart failure indicates a clinical syndrome, where the body of a person retains sodium in an inappropriate way and consequently the water. This condition is because of the weakening of various heart muscles. However, the positive thing in this case is that you may reverse your condition and thereby, lead a healthy life ahead, provided you follow a few common yet essential steps, as mentioned here.

Watch Your Symptoms

As the muscles nearby your heart lose their strength, it usually fail to deal with fluid buildup, which results in leakage within the abdomen, lungs, legs and feet. People with the problem of CHF i.e. Congestive Heart Failure often experience exertion and breathing shortness, while they usually lie down even when they do any simple activity. In addition, patients may awake during nighttime with breathless condition or may require a large number of pillows for propping them to avoid any difficulty in taking breath.

Congestive heart failure patients may even experience cough and fatigue with or without the feelings of exertion, swelling in the feet and/or legs. If you notice either or all of the mentioned symptoms, you have to take the first and the most important step i.e. discuss about your problem or concerning symptoms with your doctor for determining the exact cause.

Undergo Diagnose Procedure

Next, you should undergo diagnose procedure commonly with the help of an ECG i.e. echocardiogram test. Here, echocardiogram refers to a non-invasive type of ultrasound study and it allows any doctor to access the size and function of the patient’s heart and condition of heart valves. Depending on test reports, doctors may recommend further tests, like coronary angiogram or catheterization to look at various blood vessels responsible for supplying the heart. Once the diagnosis completes, doctors access the cause of your condition and start with the treatment.

Treatment and Medications

Doctors have found about five different classes of medication, which have shown to reduce symptoms clearly related to heart failure and to improve the ejection fraction or the pumping function of one’s heart as well as increase the survival rates. Moreover, treatments associated with heart valve problem and blocked aorta or other arteries may cause weakening of heart muscles.

However, positive thing is that patients may easily restore the adequate flow of blood towards the heart. There are specific pacemakers, which are helpful in bringing improvements in the cardiac function and implantable defibrillators are able to treat jeopardous heart rhythms, which accompany weakened form of heart muscles and congestive heart failure problems.

Exercise, Teamwork and Diet

Patients may expect to achieve optimal outcome from the congestive heart failure treatment based on teamwork of them with their doctors. This means, patients have to follow each important instruction given by his/her cardiologist to bring back the good cardiac health. These include-

Limiting/Avoiding Sodium Intake: Patients should strictly avoid or at least limit their sodium intake, as the consumption of sodium directly results in fluid retention to tax the weakened heart.

Check Weight Daily: Patients should check weight on a daily basis for monitoring the status of their fluids and body weight, while should report about changes quickly to the care team.

Intake Medications: Next, you should intake medications to limit your congestive heart failure symptoms, as directed by your doctor and schedule appointment to undergo with regular checkups of your problem.

Cardiac Rehabilitation: You should definitely get the necessary cardiac rehabilitation early and make a habit to go for regular exercise after. Exercise has proved to be beneficial to reduce symptoms and optimize physical conditions across the imperfect heart as well as prolong life of a person.

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Is Congestive Heart Failure Reversible?