Six Easy Steps to Prevent Heart Failure

By Cindy Schicker, RN

About 5 million U.S. residents are living with heart failure, the condition is diagnosed in more than 550,000 each year.

The disease costs an estimated $30 billion annually in health-care expenses. It is the most frequent cause of hospital admissions after age 65. Heart failure is one of the most important health care problems facing the nation today. The prevalence of heart failure is rising dramatically with the aging of the U.S. population.

Why is there a heart failure epidemic?

• An estimated 103,340,000 American adults have total cholesterol levels greater than 200 mg/dL.
• Approximately 47,670,000 Americans smoke cigarettes.
• One in four American adults has high blood pressure (hypertension).
• An estimated 10,600,000 Americans have physician-diagnosed diabetes.
• 73 percent of Americans get either no or inadequate leisure-time physical activity.
• An eye-opening 64.5 percent of Americans are overweight, and almost a third are obese (metabolic syndrome).
• 80 percent of men and 70 percent of women younger than 65 with heart failure will die within eight years.
• 50 percent of patients receiving an heart-failure diagnosis die within five years from sudden cardiac death, or SCD, the No. 1 killer in the nation.

The leading causes of heart failure include high blood pressure, high blood sugar (diabetes mellitus) and heart attacks. Some other causes are heart valve problems, viral illness and irregular heartbeat or rhythms. But in many cases, the cause is unknown.
Heart failure is a serious medical condition in which the heart muscle has been weakened and cannot pump blood as well as it should to supply needed oxygen and nutrients to your body.

Heart failure does not mean your heart has stopped or will stop. It means your heart cannot pump as well as it should. For most patients, heart failure is a chronic condition, which means it can be treated and managed, but not cured.

Having heart failure does not mean you cannot live a full life. But it does mean you need to play an active role in taking care of yourself. With treatment and lifestyle changes, you can help your heart work better and help yourself feel better.

Factors that put you at risk for developing heart failure are: high blood pressure, atherosclerotic disease (coronary artery disease/heart attack), diabetes (high blood sugars) and obesity metabolic syndrome.

In addition, people who drink excessive alcohol, use crack or cocaine, or have a family history of heart failure are at risk.

To prevent developing heart failure, here are some ways to promote heart health:

• Get your blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels checked at your doctors office regularly; if elevated, get these levels into a normal range any way you can.
  
• Take medicine as prescribed.
  
• Lose weight if you are overweight (metabolic syndrome).
  
• Quit smoking.
  
• Limit alcohol.
  
• Exercise as directed by your health-care provider.

Next: Warning signs for metabolic syndrome >