Beating the Clock: Strategies for Early Detection and Intervention in Acute Heart Failure
Are you experiencing breathlessness, changes in heart rhythm, and swelling in your legs or abdomen? If yes, don’t waste your time and seek medical attention. It’s the sign of heart failure, a life-threatening condition when your heart is not able to pump blood effectively throughout the body. If you don’t get treatment on time, it can lead to severe complications and can be fatal. There is no cure for heart failure, so all you can do is manage your symptoms with treatment and lifestyle changes. Learn early strategies to diagnose acute heart failure in this article. Get a consultation with the best cardiologists in Brooklyn.
Diagnosis
For diagnosis, a doctor usually performs a physical exam to check the person’s symptoms and medical history. During the exam, the doctor uses a stethoscope to check the person’s unusual heart rhythms or extra sounds. The doctor also listens to the lungs to check for congestion or also check for swelling in the person’s abdomen, legs, and veins in the neck.
If the doctor suspects heart failure, he/she may recommend these tests, including:
- Blood tests: These tests are used to diagnose diseases that affect your heart. It can check a specific protein made by the heart and blood vessels. If there’s heart failure, the level of the protein will rise.
- Chest X-ray: Chest X-ray helps to produce images of the condition that affects your lungs and heart.
- Electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG): This test is used to check the heartbeat and how fast or slow your heart’s beating. It’s a quick and painless test that records electrical signals of the heart by attaching electrodes to your chest to record the signals.
- Echocardiogram: In this test, sound waves are used to create images of the beating heart. This test can check the size and structure of the heart and heart valves and blood flow through the heart.
- Ejection fraction: This measures the percentage of blood leaving your heart each time it beats/squeezes. This measurement is taken during an echocardiogram to classify heart failure and guide treatment. An ejection fraction of 50% or higher is normal, however, you may still have heart failure even if the number is normal.
- Exercise tests or stress tests: During these tests, you often need to perform physical activity like running on a treadmill or riding a stationary bike while your heart is monitored. These tests show how your heart responds to stressful activity. If abnormal, you may have a heart problem.
- CT scan of the heart: This scan is used to create cross-sectional images of the heart.
- MRI scan: This test is also used to create detailed images of the heart by using radio waves.
- Coronary angiogram: This test is used to detect blockages in the heart arteries. During this test, the doctor injects a dye through a long, thin flexible tube called a catheter into a blood vessel usually in the groin or wrist to see more clearly the arteries in the X-ray images.
- Myocardial biopsy: This test is used to diagnose certain types of heart muscle diseases that cause heart failure. In this test, the doctor may remove tiny pieces of the heart muscle for testing.
Prevention
While you can’t avoid factors like aging, however, you can take some lifestyle measures to prevent risk factors that lead to heart failure like high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels. These preventive measures are:
- Maintain a healthy weight. If you’re overweight or obese, talking to a doctor helps to lower your weight, as it can increase blood pressure and cholesterol levels, risk factors of heart failure.
- Stay physically active.
- Eat a heart-healthy diet with lots of fiber and nutrients. Avoid processed foods and sugary foods.
- Manage your stress.
- Get enough sleep.
- Limit your alcohol consumption according to moderation. Avoid it if you can.
- Manage any other health problem you may have.
Besides these preventive measures, regular medical checkups and reporting any unusual symptoms to the doctor are the best ways to prevent heart problems. The faster your symptoms get identified and treated, the better your outcome.
Living with acute heart failure
Usually, living with acute heart failure may make drastic changes in your lifestyle and daily life activities. You may need to avoid certain foods and limit your salt and fat intake. You need to manage your physical activity levels to reduce the work of your heart.
You must pay close attention to your body because this helps you detect the early signs of heart failure that come back after treatment. Your daily routine may include weighing yourself to check your weight to know the fluid retention level in your body. You should ask for support from family and friends to not feel stressed. Ongoing medical care could be the best option to help you feel relieved. Follow proper medical guidelines to prevent future problems.
Acute heart failure is a life-threatening condition. If you don’t receive medical care in the first hour it can lead to severe complications. You should stay in the hospital until your symptoms get minimized. As there is no cure for heart failure, you need to follow medical guidance carefully to manage your symptoms and prevent future problems.
Give your heart the attention it deserves, visit our cardiology clinic in Brooklyn to get medical checkups and treatment whenever you experience any heart problem symptoms. Call us on +1(347) 384-5690. The Cardiologists at Doral Health & Wellness consistently have outstanding patient satisfaction ratings. The professionals at Heart Specialist Brooklyn are able to greatly improve their patient’s health and quality of life because of their vast training and experience. New Yorkers can get the greatest medical, surgical, and cardiovascular care at Doral Health & Wellness Brooklyn. Visit us at 1797 Pitkin Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11212.