Return to Congestive Heart Failure

Although there is no cure for congestive heart failure (CHF), the condition can be treated successfully. You'll need to make lifestyle changes and follow a drug plan to improve your quality of life and live longer.

Lifestyle changes include quitting smoking, losing excess weight, abstaining from alcohol and eating healthy low-fat and low-salt foods. Regular, modest exercise (under a physician's guidance) can help many patients.

But, even with lifestyle changes, most heart failure patients must take medication. Some drugs used to treat CHF include:

• Beta-blockers reduce the heart rate and the output of blood by counteracting hormones called adrenalin and noradrenalin. (Beta-blockers are not recommended for people with severe heart failure.) Side effects of beta-blockers include depression, fatigue, sexual dysfunction and worsening of asthma.
• Diuretics help patients with fluid retention and/or hypertension to reduce the amount of fluid in the body. Possible side effects include the loss of too much potassium, weakness, muscle cramps, joint pains and impotence.
• Digitalis increases the force of the heart's contractions, helping to improve circulation. Possible side effects include nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, diarrhea, confusion and new heartbeat irregularities.
• Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors may improve survival among heart failure patients and may slow or prevent the loss of heart pumping activity, according to recent studies. Originally developed as a treatment for hypertension, ACE inhibitors help heart failure patients by, among other things, decreasing the pressure within arteries. As a result, the heart does not have to work as hard to pump blood through the arteries. About one in four patients develop a chronic dry cough. Other possible side effects include skin rashes, fluid retention, excess blood potassium, kidney problems and an impaired sense of taste.
• Nitrate and/or hydralazine may be prescribed to patients who cannot take ACE inhibitors. These medications help relax tension in blood vessels and improve blood flow. Possible side effects include headaches, rapid heartbeat and joint pain.

Other treatments for CHF include heart transplants and mechanical pumps, which are attached to the heart. An experimental surgical procedure for severe heart failure is available at a few medical centers in this country. The procedure, called cardiomyoplasty, involves detaching one end of a muscle in the back, wrapping it around the heart and then suturing the muscle to the heart. An implanted electric stimulator causes the back muscle to contract and pump blood from the heart.

A relatively new surgical procedure called mitral valve repair may help extend and improve the lives of people with severe congestive heart failure. The procedure aims to correct leaky valves resulting from cardiomyopathy, or heart muscle disease, by surgically inserting a flexible annuloplasty ring at the mitral valve opening.

Related Articles Facts About Congestive Heart Failure Risk Factors for Congestive Heart Failure

External Source American Heart Association

This article was reviewed and updated June 2007.