50% mortality rate in 5 years? Harvard names 7 dangerous signs of "heart failure" Edema and difficulty breathing may be a cry for help from the heart
Can heart failure be caused by insufficient heart strength and thickening and hardening of the chambers?
Heart failure refers to the deterioration of cardiac systolic or diastolic function, causing symptoms such as dyspnea and edema. The prevalence of heart failure in developed countries is about 1-2%, and about 10% of people over the age of 70 suffer from heart failure. Statistics show that among patients over 65 years old who seek medical treatment for breathing difficulties, 1 in 6 will be newly diagnosed with heart failure. The lifetime rate of heart failure among 55-year-old men is 33% and 28% among women.
According to Harvard Medical School, heart failure is one of the leading causes of hospitalization for people over the age of 65. There are two main types of heart failure. The first type is heart failure with “left ventricular failure” (HFrEF). When the left ventricle becomes enlarged, the heart is not strong enough to supply enough blood to other parts of the body.
The second type is heart failure with “preserved left ventricular function” (HFpEF). Although the heart of this type of patient can contract and pump blood normally, the heart chambers become thicker and harder and cannot fully relax and fill with blood, resulting in a loss of blood supply to the body. Blood flow to various parts of the body decreases.
Is ejection fraction related to heart failure? Lower than 35% may cause severe arrhythmia
In order to clarify the cause of heart failure, cardiac ultrasound is usually used to measure the ejection friction (EF) of the heart. The EF fraction of a normal heart should be between 50% and 70%, and 40% to 49% is considered low. . An EF below 40% indicates that the left ventricle is no longer able to pump blood adequately, which may be a sign of heart failure. If combined with difficulty breathing and edema, it is the main sign of diagnosing heart failure. When EF declines below 35%, it is easy to cause arrhythmias, and frequent arrhythmias are potentially fatal.
If the normal ejection fraction is greater than 50%, but the clinical symptoms are consistent with heart failure, it belongs to heart failure “preserved for left ventricular function”. Generally, possible risk factors for this group include hypertension, coronary artery disease, obesity, and diabetes. . A few may be caused by hereditary myocardial disease.
Common everyday symptoms of heart failure? How to prevent heart failure?
Regardless of the type of heart failure, patients may present with similar clinical symptoms. In the early stages of heart failure, you may only feel tired or feel your walking speed slows down. The main symptoms also include shortness of breath, difficulty breathing when lying down, edema of legs and ankles, persistent cough, and difficulty breathing when waking up in the middle of the night. When these symptoms are not severe, patients may not feel affected and may easily ignore early signs of heart failure.
The latest research from Northwestern University in the United States shows that the five-year mortality risk of a diagnosis of heart failure is close to 50%, and once symptoms of heart failure appear, the opportunity for prevention may have been missed. Currently, the most important ways for adults to prevent heart failure are to exercise moderately, adjust their diet, reduce salt intake, lose weight, and stop smoking and drinking.
If you have been diagnosed with heart failure, you should receive appropriate treatment as soon as possible and maintain regular exercise, even a simple walk will be beneficial. In addition, heart failure patients must quit smoking, control three highs, measure their weight, pay attention to whether urine output decreases in a short period of time, and control salt and water intake.
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〈Heart failure and left ventricular ejection fraction〉
