Heart failure is a consequence of other diseases; it may not come to that / Article

Patients with heart failure often have other diagnoses from which the heart failure may have developed or which are a consequence of the heart failure, so this year Heart (Low) Capacity Days will be celebrated with various events, which will focus on heart failure and co-morbidities , said Inese Mauriņa, head of the “ParSirdi.lv” society.

Mauriņa invited to take advantage of the possibilities of “Heart (less) Ability Days” and receive free online consultations from cardiologists, get valuable information from doctors in various lectures, as well as join physical activities to strengthen health.

Heart failure – the consequences of life’s baggage

“Heart failure is never really a disease, you could say, in itself, it is a clinical syndrome that is a consequence of other heart diseases and not only heart diseases, which we want to emphasize this year. In fact, it mostly means that other organs are already involved, so it’s important to talk about it,” Kamzola explained.

At the same time, the cardiologist emphasized that not all people with heart diseases also have heart failure, because a lot also depends on the choices and actions of the person himself.

“It’s important to start early, let’s say, actually not just diagnose [sirds slimības]but also to follow a healthy lifestyle, follow prevention to delay the occurrence of heart diseases.

Because it’s no secret that heart diseases occur more often in older people, who already have such, one might say, life baggage and also risk factors,” said Kamzola.

If heart diseases are not diagnosed and treated in time, of course, there is an increased risk that they will lead to heart failure.

“The sooner we detect it, the sooner we treat it, because in general the prognosis and quality of life are better. For example, high blood pressure is immediately a wake-up call that something is wrong.

Blood pressure should be normal. If the blood pressure is elevated, then in the long term it can lead to heart failure, because it is an overload of pressure on the heart muscle,” Kamzola explained.

If a person is interested in maintaining his health, paying attention to his blood pressure and contacting his family doctor may prevent heart failure. If this does not happen, you may also have to face symptoms of heart failure due to increased blood pressure, the cardiologist admitted.

The symptoms characteristic of heart failure are quite non-specific – shortness of breath, fatigue, faster pulse, there is also swelling of the ankles in the evenings, but it is possible to determine structural or functional changes of the heart with examinations, which confirm the diagnosis of heart failure, said Kamzola.

Insufficient physical activity is harmful to health

One of the most important aspects of improving heart health is physical activity. People often worry that they can harm their heart when they start exercising more, but Ieva Ziediņa, president of the Association of Latvian Nephrologists, associate professor of Riga Stradiņa University, emphasized that such a possibility is very small.

“Nowadays, there are very few cases when physical exertion harms health. It is mostly the case that insufficient physical exertion harms health,” emphasized Ziediņa.

Kamzola also agreed with her, adding at the same time that people with already diagnosed heart diseases should start playing sports from scratch after first consulting with specialists and observing moderation.

“I absolutely agree that our problem is too little exercise, not too much exercise, but it’s always going to depend on the person’s starting condition. People who have been physically active all their lives, even if they increase their exercise at some point, it’s probably there will be no harm. But for a person who has not done anything, we would definitely not recommend starting very intensively, let’s say, running marathons,” stated Kamzola.

The cardiologist emphasized that moderate physical activity for up to 45 minutes every day, monitoring your heart rate, will not harm anyone. Going for a brisk walk or a slow run for exercise should get the heart rate up a bit, but the person should still be able to hold a conversation without difficulty, Kamzola suggested.

You can start at any age and at any level of physical fitness, but it should be done gradually, the doctors emphasized.