Congestive Heart Failure-signs&symptoms:

A number of symptoms are associated with heart failure (HF), but none is specific for the condition.

1-SOB or dyspnea-Perhaps the best -known symptom is short of breath or difficulty breathing (called dyspnea).  In heart failure, this may result from excess fluid in the lungs=pulmonary congestion=Congestive Heart Failure.  The breathing difficulties may occur at rest or during exercise.  In some cases, congestion may be severe enough to interrupt or prevent you from sleeping.

2-Fatigue or easy tiring-This is another common symptom.  As the heart’s pumping capacity decreases, muscles and other tissues receive less oxygen and nutrition, which are carried in the blood.  Without proper fuel (oxygen from the blood) provided by our engine (the heart), the body cannot perform as much work as it use to do (just like going from in shape to out of shape in time).  The ending line is this will result into fatigue.

3-Edema-Fluid accumulation will cause swelling in the feet, ankles, legs, and occasionally the abdomen (if the fluid building up in the body gets severe), what we medically call that edema.  The most common cause of right sided heart failure is left sided heart failure. You see this edema primarily with right sided heart failure.  Through gravity the blood goes backwards and our body allows water to transfer in the skin to allow the fluid to go somewhere other than the bloodstream to decrease fluid overload to the heart, which is your body trying to compensate with this excess fluid.  Its body compensation since the blood is going backwards from the heart causing fluid back up.  Excess fluid retained by the body will result into weight gain, which sometimes occurs fairly quickly (if you have CHF already you should always call your M.D. if you weight gain is 3lbs or more in a week, odds are high this is due to fluid building up).  This is why everyday a person in the hospital with CHF is weight scaled to keep an eye on fluid build up and report to M.D. anytime it goes over 3lb gain from the intial weight taken when it was therapeutic during that hospitalization.  If the weight gain is over 3 lbs a diuretic commonly used lasix will be given to remove the excess fluid till the weight is therapeutic and only if the pt has good kidneys to pee it out.

-4-Persistent coughing is another common sign, especially coughing that regularly produces mucus or pink, blood-tinged sputum.  Some people develop raspy breathing or wheezing.  Common with fluid in the lungs.

The process of how Heart Failure occurs:

Heart failure usually goes through a slow development, the symptoms may not appear until the condition has progressed over the years.  This happens because the heart first compensated by making adjustments with the heart that delay or slow down but do not prevent the ability of the heart to do its function that is stressed out or later due to some degree of heart failure, the eventual loss in pumping capacity occurs.  In time failure happens, just like a car in that when it gets older over several years is starts showing one problem after another and is exchanged for a newer car; same principle with the heart in that you show no signs and symptoms as your heart starts to slow down but after years of this compensating with the body gets to the point of heart failure and now signs and symptoms may show.  Know there are four stages of heart failure A, B, C, D and in stage A and B the pt has no symptoms yet so symptoms take time to start showing and this starts usually in stage C (Heart Failure) and definitely shown in D (Advanced Heart Failure).

How the heart compensates first for a person that is in Heart Failure:

The M.D. either treats the problem or get a transplant of the organ (which is unlikely to happen) as treatment but know this-the heart first hides the underlying process but compensates by doing this to your heart:

1-Enlargement to the muscle of the heart (causing “dilatation”) which allows more blood into the heart.

2-Thickening of muscle fibers (causing “hypertrophy”) to strengthen the heart muscle, which allows the heart to contract more forcefully and pump more blood.

3-More frequent contraction, which increases circulation.

By making these adjustments, or compensating, the heart can temporarily make up for losses in pumping ability, sometimes for years.  However, compensation of the organ can only last so long, not forever (like anything in life the living thing or an object will go through a ending life process to termination).  Eventually the heart cannot offset the lost ability to pump blood, and the signs of heart failure appear that are usually seen in stage C where symptoms start to show.

DIAGNOSIS:

1-MD examining the patient:  In many cases, physicians diagnose heart failure during a simple physical examination.  Readily identifiable signs are shortness of breath, fatigue, and swollen ankles and feet.  The physician also will check for the presence of risk factors, such as hypertension, obesity and a  history of heart problems.

Using a stethoscope, the physician can listen to a patient breathe and identify the sounds of lung congestion.  The stethoscope also picks up the abnormal heart sounds indicative of heart failure.

2-Lab Tests particularly cardiac enzymes and primarily measured is a B-type Natriuretic peptide or NT-pro BNP because this peptide releases by the heart when under stress, pressure, or volume overload = fluid build up.  With doing a simple CBC – complete blood cell test, and chemistry.

3-EKG-Electrocardiogram-If one or not both symptoms or the patient’s history point to a clear cut diagnosis, the physician may recommend any of a variety of laboratory tests, including, initially, an electrocardiogram (EKG)=12 lead EKG, which uses recording devices placed on the chest called electrodes to evaluate the electrical activity of a patient’s heartbeat which will be affected by CHF.  For example if the heart rhythm of the EKG shows Atrial Fibrillation or A Fib its a result from a weakened heart muscle.  Other arrhythmias like atrial flutter or even a very slow HR can also indicate or exacerbate CHF, often with palpitations, fatigue and SOB.  Also if the pt shows tachycardia (HR over 100)  or bradycardia (HR under 60).  Either heart rate (HR) can strain the heart, leading to or worsening heart failure.  Also PVC’s meaning Premature Ventrical Contractions seen in the arrhythmias or even normal sinus rhythm (normal and best rhythm to be in) are often found often in people with HF.

Echocardiography is another means of evaluating heart function from outside the body.  This works through sound waves that bounce off the heart are recorded and translated into images.  The pictures can reveal abnormal heart sizes, shape, and movement.  Echocardiography also can be used to calculate a patient’s ejection fraction which is a measurement of the amount of blood pumped when the heart contracts.

4-Chest X-ray which also determines the heart’s size and shape, as well as the presence of congestion in the lungs-fluid in the lungs.

Tests help rule out other possible causes of symptoms.  The symptoms of heart failure can result when the heart is made to work too hard, instead of from damaged muscle (like in a heart attack).  Conditions that overload the heart occur rarely and include severe anemia and thyrotoxicosis (a disease resulting from an overactive thyroid gland).

Prevention of CHF:

-If not diagnosed yet your already possibly ahead.  Without this diagnosis you can get started on making yourself further away from being diagnosed with this disease.  How to reach this goal is through living a routine life through healthy habits practiced, healthy dieting over all, and balancing rest with exercise during the week 30-40 minutes a day or 1 hour to 1.5 hours 3 times a week and not being obese.  They all would benefit the heart in not stressing it out making the heart’s function harder in doing its function.  When the heart stresses out it is at risk for lacking oxygen putting it at potential for angina (heart pain) to a heart attack with over time leading toward failure of the heart.  Need to learn more about what is and how to get your weight in therapeutic body mass index range through dieting of all 4 food groups, balancing exercise/rest, and knowing how the body works with all ingredients in foods including portion sizes (fats, calories, starches, carbohydrates, proteins with vitamins and minerals) to understanding how all this information takes effect in how your metabolism operates in being beneficial or against you?   Than get into a workout place or just go to channels on TV/cable that offer classes for free, read up on good foods vs. bad foods as simple as on the internet or even again TV/cable channels and balance rest with exercise; it is just taking action and doing what you need to stay healthy for the heart.

Remember, staying healthy for the heart is being healthy for so many other areas of the body (The heart is the engine to the body and is the only organ that pumps oxygen to our organs through red blood cells and without the pump either none if not pumping at all or low oxygen levels gets to the blood tissues.  Know that without oxygenation to the body tissues is oxygen starvation and we will die).  So, know that in CHF patients the pump or the heart is what is the main issue and many lead into oxygen problems at Grade C or D in congestive heart failure.

“Understanding heart failure is an important part of maintaining cardiovascular health.

Systolic heart failure occurs when the heart’s left ventricle loses its ability to contract effectively during each heartbeat. This leads to a decreased pumping capacity of the heart, eventually resulting in reduced blood flow throughout the body. There are several factors that can contribute to the development of chronic systolic heart failure.

Diastolic heart failure, which is also known as heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), occurs when the heart’s left ventricle becomes stiff and cannot relax properly during the filling phase of blood for that cardiac cycle.

Identifying and understanding the underlying causes of diastolic heart failure is essential for effective management and prevention of this condition.

One of the most common reasons of heart failure are cardiomyopathies such as the dilated or the hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.”

Heart Failure:

The definition of heart failure, it occurs when the heart loses its ability to pump enough blood through the body. Usually, the loss in pumping action is a symptom of an underlying heart problem, such as hypertension and CAD = coronary artery disease. The term heart failure suggests a sudden and complete stop of heart activity but actually the heart does not suddenly or abruptly stop. Instead the way it works is heart failure usually develops over time, years. The heart first compensates with the disease or illness the individual has but, just like a car, after wear and tear the heart goes into decompensating to heart failure due to the heart decline.

How serious is this condition? It varies from person to person depending on factors like an individual with obesity & unhealthy versus a person in healthier condition.

All people diagnosed with heart failure lose a pumping capacity of the heart that happens as they age but diagnosed with heart failure makes the engine of the body (the heart) a challenge in doing its function properly. The pump loss is more significant in the person with heart failure and often results from a heart attack (actual scaring to the tissue=death to that tissue area) or from other diseases that can damage the heart.

The severity of the condition determines the impact it has on a person’s life.

At the other end, extremes, treatment often helps people lead full lives if the person follows the meds ordered by the doctor including the diet and activity/exercise the doctor orders to the patient with heart failure (compliance so important and A MUST).

There are different levels of heart failure but even the mildest form is a serious health problem, which must be treated. If not the pump (the heart) will just get worse in doing its function properly.

To improve the chance of living longer in an individual with heart failure, patients must take care of themselves, see their physician (cardiologist) on a regular basis, and closely follow treatments (as ordered) with knowing what heart failure actually to understanding how the disease works (is the failure on the right side or left side? Which in time will effect the other side in time). In knowing what side the failure is on will make you understand what signs and symptoms to expect.

Types of Heart Failure

The term congestive heart failure (CHF) is often used to describe all patients with heart failure. In reality, congestion=the buildup of fluids in the heart for not pumping correctly, just like pipes in a home not working properly=back up of water in the pipes, happens with CHF also to the fluids (blood) backing up in the lungs.   This is just one feature of the condition and does not occur in all patients. There are two main categories of heart failure although within each category, symptoms and effects may differ from patient to patient. The two categories are:

1-Systolic heart failure (systolic is the top number of your blood pressure=the heart at work). This occurs when the heart’s (muscle-myocardium) ability to contract (pump=being active) decreases, particularly starting on the L side of the heart where the muscle of the heart is greatest (myocardium=heart muscle). The heart cannot pump blood with enough force to push a sufficient amount out of the heart into the circulation through the aorta. The aorta is a artery (vessel) that leaves the L lower chamber of the heart (left side of the heart=highly oxygenated rich blood). Due to the heart not using enough force pushing the blood forward in the aorta this causes the blood to back up and cause it to go back up into the L lower to the L upper chamber that goes further back up into the pulmonary vein into the lungs=congestion in the lungs=Congestive heart failure.  CHF is now with fluid in the lungs that’s how the word congestive comes in (pt coughing up fluids with mucus).

2-Diastolic heart failure (diastolic is the bottom number of your blood pressure which is the pressure when the heart is at rest). This failure occurs when the heart has a problem relaxing. The heart cannot properly fill with blood because the muscle of the heart due to trying so hard to compensate over a long period of time with disease (ex. High B/P, Obesity, etc…) strains the heart in doing its function that failure finally starts that the muscle of the heart (myocardium) becomes stiff. This causes the heart to lose its ability to relax to allow proper filling of the heart in upper and lower chambers=back up of the blood.   This failure starts on the right side of the heart causing the blood to back up away from the heart and may lead this blood that is highly concentrated with carbon dioxide to accumulation especially in the feet, ankles and legs. Some patients may have lung congestion=Congestive Heart Failure now with fluid in the lungs (CHF).

Causes of Heart Failure:

As stated, the heart loses some of its blood pumping ability as a natural consequence of aging. How- ever, a number of other factors can lead to a potentially life-threatening loss of pumping activity.

As a symptom of underlying heart disease, heart failure is closely associated with the major risk factors for coronary heart disease: smoking, high cholesterol levels, hypertension (persistent high blood pressure), diabetes= abnormal blood sugar levels, and obesity. A person can change or eliminate those risk factors and thus lower their risk of developing or aggravating their heart disease and heart failure through healthy habits performed routinely, proper dieting, and balancing rest with exercise.

Among prominent risk factors, hypertension-HTN (high blood pressure) and diabetes are PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT. Uncontrolled HTN increases the risk of heart failure by 200 %, compared to those who do not have hypertension.   Moreover, the degree of risk appears directly related to the severity of the high blood pressure.

Persons with diabetes have about a two to eight fold greater risk of heart failure than those without diabetes. Women with diabetes have a greater risk of heart failure than men with diabetes. Part of the risk comes from the diabetes association with other risk factors for heart disease such as high cholesterol or obesity or other risk factors. However, the disease process of diabetes also damages the heart muscle.

The presence of coronary disease is among the greatest risks for heart failure. Muscle damage and scarring caused by a heart attack greatly increase the risk of heart failure. Cardiac arrhythmias, or irregular heartbeats, also raise heart failure risk. Any disorder that causes abnormal swelling or thickening of the heart sets the stage for heart failure.

In some people, heart failure arises from problems with heart valves, the flap-like structures that help regulate blood flow through the heart. Infections in the heart are another source of increased risk for heart failure.

A single risk factor may be sufficient to cause heart failure, but a combination of factors dramatically increases the risk. Advanced age adds to the potential impact of any heart failure risk.

Finally, genetic abnormalities contribute to the risk for certain types of heart disease, which in turn may lead to heart failure. However, in most instances, a specific genetic link to heart failure has not been identified but studies are showing genetic factors.

The relevance of gene mutations leading to heart diseases and hence heart failure has become evident. The risk for and the course of heart failure depends on genomic variants and mutations underlying the so‐called genetic predisposition. Genetic contribution to heart failure is highly heterogenous and complex.

In the last few years, novel sequencing technologies (named next‐generation sequencing – NGS) have dramatically improved the availability of molecular testing, the efficiency of genetic analyses, and moreover reduced the cost for genetic testing. Due to this development, genetic testing has become increasingly accessible and NGS‐based sequencing is now applied in clinical routine diagnostics. One of the most common reasons of heart failure are cardiomyopathies such as the dilated or the hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Nearly 100 disease‐associated genes have been identified for cardiomyopathies. The knowledge of a pathogenic mutation can be used for genetic counselling, risk and prognosis determination, therapy guidance and hence for a more effective treatment. Besides, family cascade screening for a known familial, pathogenic mutation can lead to an early diagnosis in affected individuals. At that timepoint, a preventative intervention could be used to avoid or delay disease onset or delay disease progression. Understanding the cellular basis of genetic heart failure syndromes in more detail may provide new insights into the molecular biology of physiological and impaired cardiac (cell) function. As our understanding of the molecular and genetic pathophysiology of heart failure will increase, this might help to identify novel therapeutic targets and may lead to the development of new and specific treatment options in patients with heart failure.

One of the most common causes of heart failure are cardiomyopathies.

A clear distinction between acquired and inherited heart failure syndromes remains challenging.

In the end what to do in general:

SO LIVE AS HEALTHY AS POSSIBLE IN YOUR ROUTINE HABITS, YOUR DIETING OF THE 4 FOOD GROUPS, MAINTAINING YOUR WEIGHT IN A THEREPEUTIC RANGE (look as calculating BMI online for free to find out what your weight range for your height is), and BALANCING REST WITH EXERCISE TO HELP DECREASE THE CHANCE OF GETTING HEART FAILURE. Go to healthyusa.tsfl.com to learn what Dr. Anderson through his book of “Dr. A.’s Healthy Habits” and many other mentors in directing a healthy life; just research it.

CHF part 2 tomorrow and learn what the signs and symptoms with how its diagnosed, how its treated with tips on the disease (most importantly prevention).

“Heart failure occurs when the heart muscle doesn’t pump blood as well as it should. When this happens, blood often backs up and fluid can build up in the lungs, causing shortness of breath.

Some heart conditions slowly leave the heart too weak or stiff to fill and pump blood properly. These conditions include narrowed arteries in the heart and high blood pressure.

Proper treatment may improve the symptoms of heart failure and may help some people live longer. Lifestyle changes can improve quality of life.”

MAYO CLINIC (Heart failure – Symptoms and causes – Mayo Clinic)

The heart is like the engine to a car but for us it’s the “pump” for the human body; without the engine the car won’t run and without the pump we won’t live. The normal size of the heart is about the size of your fist, maybe a little bigger.

It pumps blood continuously through your entire circulatory system. The heart consists of four chambers, 2 on the right and 2 on the left. The right side only pumps high carbon dioxide levels of blood, after all the oxygen was used by the tissues and returns to the heart in the right upper chamber and leaves to the lung from the right lower chamber. From the lungs it than goes to the left side of the heart now, which is a very short distance as opposed to where the left side pumps the blood. The L side of the heart pumps blood to the feet, brain and all tissues in between with high oxygen levels of blood.   This is why the L side of the heart does more work than the R side since the blood leaving the L side has a longer distance in distributing oxygen. The heart pumps the blood with high oxygen blood levels to reach all your tissues and cells, going to the feet, brain, and to all other tissues in between returning home again to the right side of the heart (upper chamber) to get sent to the lungs again for more oxygen. This is why the muscle on the L side of the heart is larger than the right, it works harder. Every time your heart beats (the sound we call lub dub) the organ is sending out a cardiac output of blood either to the lungs for more oxygen or to the body tissues through the aorta to give oxygenated blood to your tissues and cells. This is the mechanics of how blood is pumped by the heart. It pumps in our body to deliver oxygenated blood to organs and remove the carbon dioxide from our organs in our body to stay alive.

What happens when the heart is diseased:

Let’s see what can occur if the heart is not functioning properly. If your heart is not pumping out a sufficient amount of blood in your cardiac output to either the body (from left side of the heart); or removing carbon dioxide from the tissues (from the right side of the heart) than it tries to work harder where it does ok at first but over time weakens. As this weak heart struggles to pump blood the muscle fibers of the heart stretch out which is particularly from the left lower chamber, the biggest muscle of the heart.  As the struggle for this organ progresses over time this stretching leaves the heart with larger, weaker chambers. The heart enlarges (called cardiomegaly).   If this continues to go on this could go into R or L sided heart sided failure. When this happens, blood that should be pumped out of the heart backs up in the lungs=L sided failure or backs up into the tissues=R sided failure.

The side the failure is on doesn’t allow proper filling of the chambers on that side and back up happens; so much like pipes work in backing up when problems occur like a blockage.  If this condition occurs that is on the L side the fluids back up in the lungs or the R the fluids first back up in the veins which can expand to hold extra blood but at some point dump the extra fluids in your tissues (What can occur over time is edema in feet first due to gravity).   This is all due to overloading of the blood not filling up in the chambers of the heart to make a good cardiac output of blood due to poor pumping of the heart and in time the fluid backs up (bad pumping=backup of blood=fluid overload in the lungs (pulmonary congestion) to fluid staying in the skin (In time to the lower extremities due to gravity=feet which we call edema trying to send the blood back to heart for more oxygen at the lungs going back up the legs when the oxygenated blood is used up.).

This condition in time with no treatment will definitely go into congestive heart failure (CHF) to first one side of the heart and if not controlled can go to both sides of the heart. CHF can range from mild to severe.

There is 670,000 cases that are diagnosed with this every year and is the leading cause of hospitalization in people over 65 y/o. Causes of CHF are: heart attack, CAD (coronary artery disease), cardiomyopathy, other conditions that overwork the heart like high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity (These diseases can be completely preventable or at least well controlled).

There is many of us in this world with knowing how our activity/exercise, eating, and habits could be better for health but do little action or do nothing on their own to change it, which is a large part for certain diseases being so high in America (diabetes, stroke, cardiac diseases=high blood pressure, atherosclerosis, arteriosclerosis to CHF and more).

If people just were more healthy and more active regarding these diseases alone it would decrease in population creating a positive impact on how our health system with insurance presently (a disaster) with our economy (another disaster) for many which could get better with healthy people in the USA.

A healthy heart can pump to all parts of the body in a few seconds which is good cardiac output from the organ but when it gets hard for the heart to keep up with its regular routine it first compensates when healthy but if going into CHF, a unhealthy heart pump it will decompensate causing ischemia (lack of oxygen to the heart tissue). It’s like any tissue in the body, lack of oxygen=lack of nutrients to the body tissue=STARVATION and with lack of oxygen will come PAIN eventually to death if not treated. Take the heart, if it isn’t getting enough oxygen it can go into angina. That is reversible since it is heart pain due to not enough oxygen to the heart tissue=no damage but if left untreated what will occur is a heart attack=myocardial infarction (MI) and is permanent damage because scarring to the heart tissue takes place that is permanent damage to that area of the heart tissue where the MI occurred for life.

“An enlarged heart (cardiomegaly) isn’t a disease, but rather a sign of another condition.

The term “cardiomegaly” refers to an enlarged heart seen on any imaging test, including a chest X-ray. Other tests are then needed to diagnose the condition that’s causing the enlarged heart.

An enlarged heart (cardiomegaly) can be caused by damage to the heart muscle or any condition that makes the heart pump harder than usual, including pregnancy. Sometimes the heart gets larger and becomes weak for unknown reasons. This condition is called idiopathic cardiomyopathy.”

MAYO CLINIC (Enlarged heart – Symptoms & causes – Mayo Clinic)

Left Ventricle Enlarged

Heart Size Normal

Heart Enlarged

Think of a healthy heart like a firm biceps muscle. An enlarged heart is just the opposite.

When your heart is enlarged, it’s like a soft biceps — it’s weak and out of shape. What happens is the heart muscle enlarges because the heart is trying so hard to do its function, PUMP, but it gets too difficult and the muscle of the heart enlarges/thickens causing the organ not to work properly.  So this causes back up with circulatory blood, think like a plumber–your pipes are backing up.  So what does this ends up causing?  Your body starts to retain fluid, your lungs get congested with fluid and your heart begins to beat irregularly.  If the heart is effected in working so will the lungs in time and visa versa.   Think like the car if the engine (the heart) is effected working properly the transmission (the lungs) will be also in time.

“In general the term ‘enlarged heart’ refers to heart failure,” said Clyde Yancy, M.D., past president of the American Heart Association and chief of the Division of Cardiology and the Magerstadt Professor of Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. “This is a common condition that’s more likely to occur in older patients. It’s most strongly related to a history of high blood pressure or a previous heart attack.”

About one in five adults over age 40 is affected, with African-Americans facing a greater risk due to the dieting and heridity.  Take high blood pressure as a major risk factor since

Cardiosmart American College of Cardiology say in 2018 “Black adults are up to two times more likely to develop high blood pressure by age 55 compared to whites, with many of these racial differences developing before age 30, concludes a study recently published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.”.

“There are other reasons for an enlarged heart or heart muscle disorders (like cardiomyopathies, which are diseases of the heart muscle) and not everyone with heart failure has an enlarged heart,” Dr. Yancy said. “But when we speak of an enlarged heart we are typically referring to heart failure.”

What to Look For
Shortness of breath, fluid retention (edema) and having a harder time exercising are among the key symptoms of an enlarged heart or heart failure. Irregular heartbeats (arrhythmias) — potentially even serious irregular heart rhythms and strokes — are likely as well, Dr. Yancy said.

The symptoms of an enlarged heart can affect the quality and length of your life, Dr. Yancy said.

“This is why treatment is so important and why we are so encouraged that good treatments are available today,” he said.

How to Prevent and Treat It
“Despite all of the great advances in treatment, the best treatment is to never have an enlarged heart,” Dr. Yancy said. “Prevention should be the true thrust. The simple stuff works — managing your weight, getting plenty of physical activity, controlling your diet, reducing your cholesterol and avoiding diabetes.”

But there’s good news for those who have been diagnosed with an enlarged heart.

“Whereas this condition was a dreadful diagnosis 20–25 years ago and resulted in death shortly afterward, the outlook for those with heart failure is now so much better,” Dr. Yancy said. “More and more patients are living longer, healthier lives with heart failure due to breakthrough medical and device treatments.”

If you or a loved one has heart failure, seek a care provider who has experience treating enlarged hearts.

“This condition is no longer about ‘failure,’” Dr. Yancy said. “On the correct drugs and with support from the correct devices, you can be successful in overcoming heart failure.” Dr. Yancy said there’s a nationwide “small army” of expert nurses focusing on heart failure.

”When a heart failure nurse is involved, you can expect to get better — a lot better,” he said.

Drugs and devices can strengthen the heart, and pacemakers and implantable defibrillators (ICDs) also offer hope. Surgery may be another option for patients who also have heart vessel disease and /or heart valve disease. “For those with very advanced disease, we now have very effective mechanical heart devices and we do heart transplantation very well,” he said.

And the future may hold more promise for enlarged hearts, Dr.  Yancy said.

“We expect to have cell-based therapies that will help us repair damaged hearts; easier surgeries that will halt the progression of heart disease and even more insight into preventing heart disease,” he said.

“February 6, 2026, National Wear Red Day, is the icon day of American Heart Month.

On the first Friday in February, join us as we wear RED and help raise awareness of women’s No. 1 killer – cardiovascular disease.  Cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 killer of women – but together,
we can change the future of women’s heart health.

On National Wear Red Day®, we wear RED because every heart tells a story,
and women at every age, stage, and season of life deserve to be
celebrated and supported as we take on our greatest health threat.

This American Heart Month, Go Red for Women is reminding everyone that they are often the first responder in a cardiac emergency. Women are less likely to receive CPR from a bystander.

Anyone can be the difference before professional help arrives and this starts with knowing CPR. CPR is a civic duty. You don’t need medical training to learn CPR; you need knowledge, courage, and the willingness to act.
Heroism is not limited to uniforms, it’s everyday people stepping up for others.

Find other ways you can get learn to save a life and get connected at
CONNECT TO A HEALTHIER YOU.  GoRedforWomen.org.”

American Heart Association  (GoRedforWomen.org.)

Why Go Red? Heart disease and stroke cause 1 in 3 deaths among women each year, killing approximately one woman every 80 seconds.  Fortunately, we can change that because 80 percent of cardiac and stroke events may be prevented with education and action.

That’s why this year the American Heart Association is wanting women to wear red on National Wear Red Day® and even Donate to Go Red For Woman which is the world know your aware what this day is for; Awareness on heart disease and stroke in women.  Your donation is doing so by helping support educational programs to increase women’s awareness and critical research to discover scientific knowledge about cardiovascular health.

And don’t forget to make your heart health a priority. Schedule your Well-Woman Visit, a prevention check-up to review a woman’s overall health so her doctor can measure blood pressure, check cholesterol and look for other indicative signs for the doctor during your visit of heart disease, stroke and other illnesses. Then encourage others through your social channels to do the same using the #GoRedWearRed and #WellWomenVisit.

We couldn’t make positive changes without the support and donations by individuals like you who care about health in their body and the people around them in the community.

An eye opener on Heart Disease is that it should be rare & cured.

It is still the number one killer even greater than cancer in both men and women today. This disease should be rare do to a lot of cardiac disease is inflicted upon humans through being overweight through just bad healthy habits practiced. Obesity can cause diabetes II, heart disease, high blood pressure, and more. High blood pressure is called the “silent killer” because it often has no warning signs or symptoms, and many people don’t realize they have it. That’s why it’s important to get your blood pressure checked regularly. The good news is that you can take steps to prevent high blood pressure, or to treat it if it is already high.

What we can do is make some changes in our living. Westerners create an increase in diabetes, heart disease and some cancers. AMERICA WE NEED TO WAKE UP AND MAKE A CHANGE. TO THE MAIN CULPRITES we are talking about sugars and fat (OUR DIET). GLUCOSE and LIPIDS!. The typical American diet is consisted and loaded with sugar and fats. Lack of exercise and stress doesn’t help the situation. Get peace of mind through again making changes in your life if you are striving to become healthier. Let’s look at cholesterol = 2 types HDL and LDL. LDL is the bad cholesterol. Know if your LDL is type A or type B. If you have a high HDL level and a low LDL that is good but ask your doctor to see if you can get a blood test checking both type A and type B of your cholesterol that will give you the knowledge if you need to take an action. Go to CDC.org to see the different number ranges of both men and women on their levels and more. Just knowing your cholesterol level isn’t enough but does give the doctor some direction. Knowing if your type A or type B LDL helps even more with knowing your risk of heart disease.

Cholesterol only becomes a problem if the LDL gets too high with high pattern type B which is worse with stress and smoking and processed foods in high amounts eaten. Particles called lipoproteins carry cholesterol in the blood. There are two kinds of lipoproteins you need to know about: LDL and HDL. The plasma lipoprotein particles classified under high-density (HDL) and low-density (LDL) lipoproteins enable fats to be carried in the blood stream.

-Low-density lipoproteins (LDL) cholesterol make up the majority of the body’s cholesterol. LDL is known as “bad” cholesterol because having high levels can lead to a buildup in the arteries and result in heart disease.

-High-density lipoproteins (HDL) cholesterol absorb cholesterol and carry it back to the liver, which flushes it from the body. High levels of HDL, or “good” cholesterol, reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke.

Apolipoprotein A1 (apoA1) is the major protein of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and apoB is among the major proteins of very low-, low- (LDL), and intermediate-density lipoproteins. Because of their associations with the respective lipoproteins, apoA1 is inversely and apoB is positively associated with cardiovascular risk (2). In fact, evidence suggests that apoA1 and apoB are better predictors of heart disease risk than are HDL and LDL cholesterol levels (3-5). Apolipoproteins may also offer advantages over lipoprotein cholesterol measurements because they are direct measurements, whereas LDL, for example, is calculated from other lipoproteins from a fasting blood sample.

You can take several steps to maintain a normal cholesterol level.

• Get a blood test.
• Eat a healthy diet.
• Maintain a healthy weight.
• Exercise regularly.
• Don’t smoke.
• Treat high cholesterol.

Heart disease what is it? Your arteries can get stretched in high blood pressure and it puts the arteries at risk for an auto immune response which allows LDL particles to go in these stretched out areas causing build up of bad cholesterol in the arteries and imbeds fat causing the placque build up = narrowing of the arteries.

We need to reduce inflammation in the arteries. To prevent, reduce, and treat heart disease if already diagnosed with. Reduce all sugars, cut back on fatty foods, exercise daily, increase of your whole grains, fresh fruits, and vegetables.   We need to use all 4 food groups but eat the healthy ones in the right portions. Which I can provide to you later how to go about this.

In the United States, the most common type of heart disease is coronary artery disease (CAD), which leads many to heart attacks. You can greatly reduce your risk for CAD through lifestyle changes and, in some cases, medication. CAD consists of cholesterol and placque build up, even tar if a smoker, that can be deadly in time with blocking the arteries called atherosclerosis. This in time left untreated can lead to a heart attack or even silent heart attack. CAD also is the brittling of the arteries causing narrowing of the arteries called arteriosclerosis. Here it is the ending result is the blood supply is affected in not getting enough oxygen throughout our body to our tissues.

Coronary artery disease can cause a heart attack. If you have a heart attack, you are more likely to survive if you know the signs and symptoms, call 9-1-1 immediately, and get to a hospital quickly. People who have had a heart attack can also reduce the risk of future heart attacks or strokes by making lifestyle changes and taking medication.  Don’t put off the chest pain or discomfort in the chest or pain down the L arm for if your right you want to prevent the heart attack before it occurs and if you already had an attack the sooner treated the better. Reperfusion of blood to the heart is the KEY in treatment. Chest pain to the heart is lack of oxygen getting to the heart tissue=ischemia. We alone can’t treat it but we can prevent it before CAD even sets in through good health practices daily, healthy dieting daily and balancing rest with exercise daily.

Look at our diet alone in America: Take the elements that are in our food=Sugars or Carbohydrates or Fats. Simple CHO likes bread, rice, pasta along with fats and complex sugars all convert to simple sugars in the stomach and when it goes through digestion and the simple sugar reaches the blood stream filling it up with sugar which first does get utilized to our tissues and cells but if still extra sugar in the blood stream that sugar has to go somewhere which is by filling up the liver with it. In the liver the glucose gets converted from active sugar=glucose to glycogen=inactive sugar that stores in this organ. This is so if and when the body needs extra sugar for energy in our body and we don’t eat the inactive glucose glycogen will get released back into the blood stream and change to glucose and be used. Since we eat so much in America it usually isn’t the case. Obesity is so large in our country and this is why.   When it reaches full and can’t store anymore still this glucose extra glucose in the blood stream has to go somewhere. So now the glucose gets stored in our fatty tissue=weight gain. This is what you see with eating through on a regular basis day in & day out too much food compared to the activity or exercise you get for the day. If no daily exercise then your fat storage build up is high=weight gain.

 How do we go about preventing CAD and getting healther. Well see if this makes sense to you, it did to me. First, genetic abnormalities contribute to the risk for certain types of heart disease, which in turn may lead to heart failure. However, in most instances, a specific genetic link to heart failure has not been identified. SO THE KEY TO PREVENTION OF CAD IS TO LIVE AS HEALTHY AS POSSIBLE IN YOUR ROUTINE HABITS, YOUR DIETING OF THE 4 FOOD GROUPS, MAINTAINING YOUR WEIGHT IN A THEREPEUTIC RANGE (look as calculating BMI online for free to find out what your weight range for your height is), and BALANCING REST WITH EXERCISE TO HELP DECREASE THE CHANCE OF GETTING HEART FAILURE.

“The American Heart Association has set a goal of doubling the survival of cardiac arrest by 2030.

We know that in order to save more lives from the 350,000 cardiac arrests that occur outside of the hospital every year, we must increase the number of people who respond to cardiac arrest by calling 911, delivering high-quality CPR and using an AED as soon as it is available.

In every cardiac emergency, the real first responder is not always a uniformed professional but often an everyday bystander. Cardiac arrest can strike anywhere- at the gym, in the grocery store, or during a child’s soccer game. However, bystanders only intervene about 40% of the time, often
due to uncertainty or lack of training.

You do not need medical credentials to save a life. What’s required is knowledge, courage, and the readiness to act. This reimagining of heroism challenges the community to see themselves as empowered agents of change- ordinary people with the extraordinary power to make every future
moment possible for someone in crisis.

This American Heart Month the message is clear: anyone can save a life. In every cardiac emergency, the real first responder is not always a uniformed professional but often a friend, family member or even a stranger nearby. Ordinary people have extraordinary power. You are the first responder until professional help arrives. Join the Nation of Lifesavers by learning CPR today and check out the free resources in our 2026 American Heart Month Toolkit.”

American Heart Association (American Heart Month | American Heart Association)