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January 09, 2019

Living with Chronic Heart Failure

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♪ [music] ♪

- [Dr. Trimbur] Heart failure is a chronic
condition in which the heart cannot,

for some reason, supply enough blood
to meet the needs of the body

and the tissues in the body.
It can be either a pumping problem,

or a filling problem, or sometimes
a combination of both.

It's a chronic disease.
There is no cure for it.

One of the first signs that you're picking
up extra fluid in your body which is a

cardinal sign of heart failure is when
your weight jumps up rapidly.

In heart failure, the heart is not able
to do its job. The body interprets that

as not enough volume in the body so you
retain water and sodium, so then your

weight goes up. The important thing
for heart failure patients to do

to take care of themselves are to take
your medications as they're prescribed

because those are very important
to stop or slow down the progression

of the disease. It's very important
for heart failure patients

to watch the sodium in their diet.
We want to restrict that to about

2 to 3 grams of sodium a day.
Exercise. When the doctor has

cleared you for exercise, it's important
to be as physically active as you're able

and to rest frequently when you need to.
Baptist Health Louisville, we spend a lot

of time educating our patients.
So, it's very important that patients

learn to do what they can to take
care of themselves.

And then that way, we can optimize
quality of life, and reduce the symptom

burden, and sometimes we can either
slow down or stop the progression

of the disease.

♪ [music] ♪
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Baptist Health Louisville: Living with Chronic Heart Failure

Chronic heart failure is a condition that can’t be cured, although it can be treated and maintained with the help of medical experts. Learn how Baptist Health helps patients live a full life with chronic heart failure.

Living with Chronic Heart Failure HealthTalks Transcript

Anna Laura Trimbur, APRN, Cardiology:
Heart failure is a chronic condition in which the heart cannot for some reason supply enough blood to meet the needs of the body and the tissues in the body. It can be either a pumping problem or a filling problem, or sometimes a combination of both. It’s a chronic disease. There’s no cure for it.

One of the first signs that you’re picking up extra fluid in your body, which is a cardinal sign of heart failure, is when your weight jumps up rapidly. In heart failure, the heart is not able to do its job. The body interprets that as not enough volume in the body, so you retain water and sodium, and your weight goes up.

The important things for heart failure patients to do to take care of themselves are to take medications as they’re prescribed, because those are very important to stop or slow down the progression of the disease. It’s very important for heart failure patients to watch the sodium in their diet. We want to restrict that to about two to three grams of sodium a day. Exercise — when the doctor has cleared you for exercise, it’s important to be as physically active as you’re able and to rest frequently when you need to.

At Baptist Health Louisville, we spent a lot of time educating our patients. It’s very important that patients learn to do what they can to take care of themselves. In that way, we can optimize the quality of life and reduce the symptom burden and sometimes, we can either slow down or stop the progression of the disease.

Have you ever wondered how healthy your heart is? This quick heart health risk assessment can compare your actual age to your heart’s biological age, as well as calculate your risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

Learn More.

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