February 10, 2020 |

The Right Heart Failure Treatment Plan for You

It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach.

Loading the player...

It’s a big misconception that heart failure is untreatable. Despite its name, heart failure can be managed in a number of ways to reduce symptoms, prolong life, and keep you out of the hospital.

“There is not a one-size-fits-all approach to heart failure management,” says Michelle W. Bloom, MD, cardio-oncologist at Stony Brook Medical Center. “You would really need to understand your particular situation … in order to really best tailor that therapy to your individual situation.”

If you’ve been diagnosed with heart failure, your treatment plan may consist of one or more of the following components:

Medications: There are a number of effective medications to treat heart failure available, including beta blockers, ACE inhibitors, and diuretics.
Lifestyle changes: This includes regulating water and salt intake and monitoring weight, all of which can help reduce symptoms like swelling or shortness of breath. Learn more about lifestyle changes for heart failure here.
Cardiac rehabilitation: This is essentially a safe environment for cardiac patients to return to physical activity under medical supervision.
Implanted devices: When a patient doesn’t respond to traditional therapies, doctors may recommend something like a left ventricular assist device (LVAD), which is a pump to support blood flow to the rest of the body. Learn more here about surgical options for heart failure.
Heart transplant: A transplant is only used for advanced heart failure patients. Candidates for heart transplant may have to wait months or years for a new heart to be available, so an LVAD may be implanted during the wait.

Regardless of your heart failure treatment plan, you will be supported by a team of medical experts, including a cardiologist, nurses, electrophysiologists (who specialize in heart rhythm disturbances), surgeons, your primary care doctor, and—perhaps most importantly—you, the patient.

“A diagnosis of heart failure can be overwhelming to anybody,” says Dr. Bloom. “It is so important for patients to feel comfortable and empowered to bring any and all of their concerns to their doctor and their whole heart failure team, so that we can help you live your best life with heart failure.”

Medical Contributors:

Transcript:

00:00.767 --> 00:02.566
(MUSIC)

00:02.567 --> 00:04.932
There is not a one-size-fits-all approach

00:04.933 --> 00:07.566
to heart failure management, and you would really need

00:07.567 --> 00:09.932
to understand your particular situation

00:09.933 --> 00:12.366
along with your doctor and your heart failure team

00:12.367 --> 00:17.232
in order to really best tailor that therapy to your individual situation.

00:17.233 --> 00:22.499
(MUSIC)

00:22.500 --> 00:26.166
Medications are the cornerstone of heart failure therapy,

00:26.167 --> 00:28.966
but there are so many things that go into properly

00:28.967 --> 00:30.699
managing a patient with heart failure.

00:30.700 --> 00:33.732
Heart failure patients are very sensitive to salt

00:33.733 --> 00:36.266
and water regulation, so we teach patients

00:36.267 --> 00:39.932
and their families not to eat a lot of extra salt,

00:39.933 --> 00:42.399
and also to monitor how much fluid they're taking in

00:42.400 --> 00:45.566
on a regular basis so that we don't run into problems

00:45.567 --> 00:47.766
with swelling and shortness of breath.

00:47.767 --> 00:51.732
Cardiac rehabilitation, it's like a gym for cardiac patients

00:51.733 --> 00:55.366
that empowers patients to get back into physical activity.

00:55.367 --> 00:58.632
Despite our best efforts with medical therapy,

00:58.633 --> 01:01.499
we have patients that don't respond to the therapy well

01:01.500 --> 01:04.066
or they get sicker, despite the therapy.

01:04.067 --> 01:07.266
For those patients, we start to think about things

01:07.267 --> 01:09.766
like mechanical circulatory support.

01:09.767 --> 01:13.132
There is something called a left ventricular assist device,

01:13.133 --> 01:16.566
also known as an LVAD, a heart pump that helps

01:16.567 --> 01:20.032
patients pump blood to the rest of the body.

01:20.033 --> 01:24.899
In the most extreme cases, we list patients for heart transplant.

01:24.900 --> 01:28.332
With your medical team, the doctor is the tip of the iceberg.

01:28.333 --> 01:32.199
The core of a heart failure team consists of nurses,

01:32.200 --> 01:34.332
who do a lot of our education.

01:34.333 --> 01:37.066
Other types of doctors like electrophysiologists,

01:37.067 --> 01:40.199
who help us with heart rhythm disturbances, surgeons,

01:40.200 --> 01:43.232
and of course, the most critical piece of the heart failure

01:43.233 --> 01:46.299
team is the patient and the family members themselves,

01:46.300 --> 01:49.032
who really bring to the table our ability to know

01:49.033 --> 01:51.366
how well we're doing with the therapies.

01:51.367 --> 01:54.432
A diagnosis of heart failure can be overwhelming

01:54.433 --> 01:57.099
to anybody in the best of circumstances.

01:57.100 --> 02:00.099
It is so important for patients to feel comfortable

02:00.100 --> 02:03.166
and empowered to bring any and all of their concerns

02:03.167 --> 02:05.699
to their doctor and their whole heart failure team

02:05.700 --> 02:09.832
so that we can help you live your best life with heart failure.

02:09.833 --> 02:12.300
(MUSIC)