Heart failure a growing medical problem

Dr. Louis Cunningham, above right, discusses how the heart works with Larry Renfroe of Luray.

Dr. Louis Cunningham is concerned about the increasing numbers of patients he sees each day with congestive heart failure. The disease seems to be mushrooming largely because the number of older Americans is increasing.

“It’s a major medical problem in cardiovascular medicine,” says Dr. Cunningham, a cardiologist at the Mid-South Heart Center. “The health care costs for congestive heart failure are $55-60 billion a year.”

He offers other statistics…

Congestive heart failure is the most frequent cause of admission to a hospital, particularly for those over 50 years of age.
Congestive heart failure is a leading cause of cardiovascular deaths; 250,000 Americans die of it each year.
About five million Americans are being treated for heart failure. By the year 2007, that number will double to 10 million Americans.

“Congestive heart failure is the weakening of the heart muscle so that it no longer does an adequate job of pumping blood throughout the body, Dr. Cunningham says. “When that pump begins to fail and the body is no longer getting a constant flow of blood supplying oxygen, all organs of the body are affected. In general, death occurs when the pumping efficiency of the heart diminishes until its effectiveness is non-existent.”

Congestive heart failure is caused by many factors – some of which Americans can control, such as high blood pressure and coronary artery disease, and some of which we cannot control, such as cardiomyopathy, a viral infection or even pregnancy.

“To a large extent,” Dr. Cunningham says, “we are doing this to ourselves when bad eating habits or lifestyle cause high blood pressure or coronary artery disease.”

Though the problem is more likely with age, not all elderly people get congestive heart failure, he says. “A person may live to a well advanced age and not have congestive heart failure.”

You should see a physician, Dr. Cunningham advises, when you experience…

Shortness of breath, particularly on exertion. Symptom may worsen even when the body is at rest.
The need to sit up to breathe comfortably.
Waking up suddenly, with a smothering sensation and having to sit up to catch your breath.
Swelling, mostly in the ankles and legs. (Some call the condition dropsy because of the swelling.)
Fatigue and lack of energy.
Palpitations, a fluttering, racing or skipping heart.
In extreme cases, dizziness or feeling faint.
Dr. Cunningham advises: “If you are having any of these symptoms, see your physician.”

Treatment of congestive heart failure is improving, says Dr. Cunningham, particularly in the last 20 years. Today, medications not only treat the symptoms and help make a person feel better; they also lessen the advancement of the disease. Still, he says, there is no cure. “The closest thing to a cure is a heart transplant.”

Meanwhile, people can add years to their lives by minimizing their salt intake, eating heart healthy and exercising. People with congestive heart failure should monitor their total fluid intake and weigh themselves regularly; large, sudden weight gains can be caused by fluid retention. The amount of exercise for a person with the disease should be tailored to the individual and monitored by a health care professional.

“Even though we can’t control all of the factors that could cause heart failure,” Dr. Cunningham says, “it is still important to lead a healthy lifestyle and to get your medical problems treated.