Living with Congestive Heart Failure
The term failure evokes the idea of lack of success or a state of not functioning. When it comes to congestive heart failure, consider the former: lack of success. The heart is still functioning, but according to the American Heart Association, the heart cannot keep up with its workload and therefore, the body may not receive the oxygen it needs requiring timely medical attention.
Nearly 1 in 3 people in the U.S. are affected by heart disease and more than 6 million Americans live with heart failure and over 900,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. While living with congestive heart failure may look different for everyone, there are number of lifestyle choices all should consider to manage this condition such as:
- Making healthier dietary decisions like cutting back on sodium.
- Exercising regularly.
- Losing weight.
- Speaking with a doctor about medication options.
- Paying close attention to physical changes.
It can be difficult to manage a chronic condition like heart failure, even when implementing medication, better nutrition, and exercise. The American Heart Association developed tools to assist those living with heart failure such as physical changes to note and report to your healthcare team. These tools and additional information on living with congestive heart failure can be found at heart.org.
