Ways To Avoid Triggers Of Sudden Heart Failure

Heart failure (HF), which means your heart can’t pump as well as it should, can sometimes quickly worsen. It’s called acute or sudden heart failure in that case. Watch for the warning signs that your HF is worsening to prevent it from happening. Immediately see your doctor if you feel more tired than usual, cough or wheeze a lot, can’t catch your breath, feel dizzy or light-headed, can’t eat, feel confused, notice your heart beats very fast, have more trouble exercising than usual, suddenly gain weight or your legs and feet get swollen which means you’re holding on to extra fluid.

Adhere To Your Treatment Plan- Medicine and lifestyle changes can help you manage HF and prevent your symptoms from worsening. You need to keep up with a healthy routine including things like limit salt, sugar and saturated fat; drop pounds if you are overweight; get regular exercise; eat lots of veggies, fruits, and lean protein; and take the medicines you’ve been prescribed to lower your blood pressure and cut the workload on your ticker. Unless you get the okay from your doctor, do not stop your medicine or change the dose.

Keep Your Blood Pressure In Check- When your blood pressure is too high, your ticker has to work harder to pump blood around your body, the extra strain may weaken your ticker even more. A healthy blood pressure of 120 over 80 should be your goal. You can bring down your numbers with diet, exercise, weight loss, and blood pressure medicines if you need them.

Diabetes Management- You could have higher odds of heart failure if you have diabetes. The high blood sugar levels that are a symptom of the disease damage your heart muscle and blood vessels. Eat a heart-healthy diet, get more active, and take medicine to lower your blood sugar if your doctor tells you to, to avoid problems related to the ticker.

Observe Your Medicines- Drugs that you take for other conditions can sometimes harm your ticker. For example, there are some medicines that make your body hold on to more salt, which raises blood pressure while others damage your heart muscle, or interact with drugs you take to control your HF.

If you have HF, drugs that can be a problem include some (but not all treatments) for asthma, cancer, depression, colds and allergies, diabetes, abnormal heart rhythm, high blood pressure, pain, seizures, migraine headache medicines. Some herbal supplements can worsen HF, too including Black cohosh, Green tea, Hawthorn, Ginseng, Danshen. It is essential that you go over all the medicines you take with the doctor who treats your HF, let him know before you start on any new drug.

Protect Your Heart- Many conditions that damage the ticker can lead to HF or worsen it. So it is important that you work with your doctor closely to manage problems like abnormal heart valves, heart defects, inflammation of the ticker (myocarditis), abnormal heart rhythm like atrial fibrillation, heart muscle disease (cardiomyopathy).

Quit Smoking And Avoid Alcohol- Once you have HF, even a glass of red wine can make your symptoms worse. On the other hand, alcohol raises your heart rate and blood pressure that puts added strain on your ticker. Do not drink more than 1 or 2 glasses of alcohol every day. If you already have HF, check with your healthcare provider to see if it's safe for you to drink at all. Quit, if you smoke as the chemicals in tobacco smoke damage your ticker and blood vessels. Moreover, smoking makes more plaque buildup in your arteries, which limits blood flow and makes your heart work harder. Ask your doctor about ways to quit. Also, stay away from anyone else who smokes as secondhand smoke is unhealthy for your heart and blood vessels.

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