Ruminations

Blog dedicated primarily to randomly selected news items; comments reflecting personal perceptions

Wednesday, May 07, 2025

Preventing, Diagnosing and Managing Heart Disease

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"[Prior to the 1950s and '60s, a diagnosis of heart failure was considered terminal.] It used to be like Stage 4 cancer. It was a terminal condition with no options."
"While we've made tremendous progress in preventing, diagnosing, and managing heart disease, the rise in heart failure cases highlights the urgent need for continued awareness, education, and action."
"At the Canadian Heart Failure Society, we remain committed to informing Canadians about the warning signs of heart disease to help save lives." 
"[Now], we have patients who live very active, almost normal lives."
Dr. Justin Ezekowitz, president, Canadian Heart Failure Society
 
Innovations in medical treatment and management of heart failure continue to improve steadily. Many patients diagnosed with heart failure continue to live active lives while being treated and monitored. Some patients are severely affected, while others live active, normal lifestyles. Even so, a diagnosis of heart failure is acknowledged as leading to shorter life expectancy. That life expectancy gap is being diminished, allowing for a longer life extension, with the emergence of new therapies.
 
Early diagnosis and treatment -- pointed out Dr. Ezekowitz -- are vital for good outcomes. It is crucial in attaining that end, that people understand the disease, its limitations and trajectory and how best o live their lives as active, knowledgeable members of society. Ideally, routine screening for heart failure; a procedure that can be readily accomplished with a blood test, is one of the goals of the Heart Failure Society.
 
Currently over 800,000 Canadians have been diagnosed and live with the cardiovascular disease, a once-dire condition that is growing in prevalence. This year alone, according to research and statistics, 120,000 Canadians are expected to be diagnosed. The public should also be aware of warning symptoms such as deep fatigue and shortness of breath; cues that something might conceivably be straining the body's resources. 

Heart failure is diagnosed when it has been determined that the heart no longer pumps the amount of blood the human body requires to function properly. Heart failure can result from damage to the heart muscle from a previous, undetected heart attack, from the rigours imposed upon the body by diabetes, and by hypertension, or other heart conditions. Reducing the likelihood of heart problems is a goal for informed individuals to take steps in reducing risk factors.
 
Smoking cessation, high cholesterol and  high blood pressure remedial therapies, incorporating physical activities into the course of a day and rejecting a sedentary lifestyle, all represent an individual's commitment to their own health outcomes. Aging populations, rising diabetes cases and hypertension and the fact that more individuals now survive heart attacks all contribute to a rise in heart failure diagnoses, emphasized Dr. Ezekowitz. 

Heart & Stroke

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