A pathology in which the heart, for whatever reasons, stops pumping blood with normal force, is called chronic heart failure (CHF) - it is especially common among elderly patients. Because the heart, like a faulty pump, can no longer fully pump blood, all organs of the body and tissues begin to experience deficits in both oxygen and nutrients.
Symptoms of Chronic Heart Failure
When CHF is characterized by complaints about:
- shortness of breath ;
- frequent pulse;
- pain in the right hypochondrium;
- severe fatigue;
- cyanosis of the lips, fingers, toes;
- edema (mainly lower extremities).
Doctors adopted the following classification of chronic heart failure, demonstrating the severity of the pathology:
- I FC (functional class) - the patient leads a habitual way of life, not limiting his physical activity; does not experience dyspnea and lightheadedness under normal loads.
- II FC - the patient feels discomfort during normal physical exertion (rapid heartbeat, weakness, dyspnea), because of which he has to limit them; at rest, a person feels comfortable.
- III FC - the patient is mostly in a state of rest, tk. even small loads cause characteristic of the syndrome of chronic heart failure symptoms.
- IV FC - even in rest the patient begins to feel faint; The slightest load only increases discomfort.
Diagnosis of chronic heart failure
In general, CHF is a consequence of neglect of treatment of heart disorders. It occurs, as a rule, against the background of ischemic disease (more often in men), arterial hypertension (more often in women), heart disease, myocarditis, cardiomyopathy , diabetes, alcohol abuse.
Older people refuse to visit the doctor, perceiving chronic cardiovascular insufficiency as an inevitable stage of their aging. In fact, the first suspicion of CHF should be addressed to the cardiologist.
The doctor will study the anamnesis, prescribe an ECG and an echocardiogram, as well as an x-ray of internal organs and a blood test, urine. The main task of the diagnosis is to identify the heart disease that caused the failure, and begin to treat it.
Treatment of chronic heart failure
The therapy used for CHF is aimed at:
- reduction or elimination of manifestations of pathology that cause discomfort to the patient;
- protection of blood vessels, kidneys, brain, heart (so-called target organs);
- an increase in the life expectancy of a person suffering from CHF;
- reduction in the number of hospitalizations.
Medical treatment of pathology is classified as follows:
- basic therapy - ACE inhibitors, diuretics, beta-blockers, cardiac glycosides;
- additional therapy - calcium channel blockers, aldosterone antagonists and angiotensin II receptors;
- auxiliary therapy - peripheral vasodilators, antiaggregants, antiarrhythmics, corticosteroids, direct anticoagulants, statins.
Nutrition for chronic heart failure
In addition to medicines prescribe non-drug treatment of CHF, which implies a diet. Patients are recommended to drink at least 750 grams of fluids, and reduce the amount of salt in the diet to 1.2 - 1.8 g. In severe cases (IV FK), it is permissible to consume up to 1 g of salt per day.
With chronic heart failure, the patient receives recommendations regarding physical activity. Useful in this regard is an exercise bike or walking for 20 minutes a day with control of well-being.