Heart failure is increasing, but few people know it

Currently, Dr. Bondet is working at Saint Joseph Hospital - Marseille (France). Working time at Vinmec from January 5 to 17.
Dear Doctor, what is heart failure? How does the disease affect your life? The heart is like a pump responsible for pumping blood throughout the blood vessels. When this pump does not complete the task, then we have heart failure... Heart failure will lead to reduced blood supply to the body, affecting important organs such as the brain and kidneys. Patients find it difficult to breathe on exertion in the early stages. The later stage can cause continuous shortness of breath, low blood pressure, making the patient feel uncomfortable, dizzy. The heart's ability to eject blood is weaker and weaker, gradually leading to blood stasis in different parts: In the extremities causing edema; in the lungs causing pulmonary edema and pulmonary effusion ; in the liver causing hepatomegaly. Heart failure is the result of many diseases: - Diseases that damage the heart muscle, especially in people with diabetes, people who drink a lot of alcohol - Heart valve disease - Untreated high blood pressure - Cardiovascular disease coronary heart disease, especially in smokers. - Congenital heart disease < ?>So, doctor, what should people who have had one of the above heart diseases do to avoid leading to heart failure? Patients with the above diseases need to be well treated to avoid the development of heart failure. Specifically, people with heart valve disease need to be detected early and treated appropriately, surgery at the right time. For people who already have high blood pressure, long-term treatment and stable blood pressure control are required. With coronary artery disease, it is necessary to be treated and monitored to avoid the risk of myocardial infarction. In Vietnam, the above diseases are increasing because life expectancy is increasing. I also see that heart valve diseases tend to decrease thanks to the prevention and effective treatment of pharyngitis with drugs. However, coronary heart disease and diabetes tend to increase due to changes in nutrition and diet. < ?>Sir, when you have heart failure, how is the patient treated? For patients with heart failure, in addition to having to treat pre-existing conditions that cause heart failure, patients need to adjust their lifestyle: Reduce the amount of salt in the diet, at least 6g per day. Then it is necessary to treat the excess salt in the body with the use of diuretics. And also need to treat increased myocardial contractility with heart drugs prescribed by the doctor. Thank you doctor for this conversation.

Doctor Michel BERTHET-BONDET is having time for consultation and treatment at Vinmec International General Hospital from January 5, 2015 to January 17, 2015. Visiting time from Monday to Friday: 9:00 - 16:00; Saturday: 9:00 am - 12:00 pm. For more advice on and to make an appointment with a doctor, please contact the Call Center at: 04 3974 3556.
* The program will be replayed in the time frame 8:30am - 9:00am on January 9 on VOV channel. traffic.