Introduction
The heart’s primary function is to supply oxygen and nutrients to all organs and tissues of the body and to exclude their waste products. Depending on whether a person is resting or actively working, the body requires different amounts of blood. In order to adequately supply the body’s needs, the frequency and strength of the heartbeat and the size of the vascular lumen can vary considerably. A diagnosis of heart failure means that the heart has stopped supplying sufficient oxygen and nutrients to tissues and organs. The disease usually has a chronic course, and a patient may live with it for many years before being diagnosed.
Worldwide, tens of millions of people suffer from heart failure, and the number of patients diagnosed with it increases every year (Singleton & Branch, 2018). The most common cause of heart failure is narrowing the arteries that supply oxygen to the heart muscle. Although vascular disease develops at a relatively young age, the manifestation of congestive heart failure is more common in older people.
Main body
Other factors contributing to the development of this disease are hypertension, alcohol and drug abuse, changes in the structure of heart valves, hormonal disorders, and infectious inflammation of the heart muscle. Different groups of drugs are used for drug therapy for heart failure. These drugs include diuretics, cardiac glycosides, vasodilators, calcium channel blockers, and beta-blockers (Singleton & Branch, 2018). The most important in heart failure is a group of drugs derived from the foxglove plant or cardiac glycosides. These drugs were first discovered in the 18th century and are widely used today (Singleton & Branch, 2018). Cardiac glycosides affect the internal metabolism inside the heart cells, increasing the strength of the heartbeat. This leads to a notable improvement in the blood supply to the internal organs.
New classes of drugs, such as vasodilators, have recently been used to treat heart failure. These drugs primarily affect the peripheral arteries by stimulating their dilation. As a result, by facilitating the flow of blood through the vessels, heart function improves. Vasodilators include nitrates, angiotensin-converting enzyme blockers, and calcium channel blockers (Singleton & Branch, 2018). In emergency cases, surgical intervention is performed, which is especially necessary when disorders of the heart valves cause failure. There are situations when the only way to save the patient’s life is heart transplantation.
Miami hospitals have long treated heart failure effectively. However, there are goals to be pursued to improve the quality and speed of recovery for patients with this diagnosis. The first goal is to have all hospitals implement systems to monitor the amount of fluid intake. Fluid intake should not surpass 1.5 liters per day (Szymańska et al., 2018). The daily fluid intake should include all liquid products: water, juices, tea, coffee, milk, and soups.
If the patient takes diuretics, it is necessary to keep records of fluids taken and excreted. On the one hand, this allows one to evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment. On the other hand, it will allow one to avoid excessive body dehydration if the drug overdoses. Secondly, it is worth introducing hospitals to a special menu for people who suffer from heart failure (Szymańska et al., 2018). This diet should limit the intake of table salt since its excessive intake leads to fluid retention in the body and hampers heart function, resulting in increased shortness of breath and swelling of the legs.
Such innovations in hospitals will help improve the experience and speed the recovery of patients. However, inpatient treatment is solely a means of stabilizing patients with chronic heart failure during periods of exacerbation (Yagel et al., 2019). The main method of control and prevention of disease symptoms is prevention. In this context, it is worth talking about community resources that can help with this task. Miami’s primary resource is the hospitals and clinical centers that provide patient care.
However, the actions of such centers can also serve an essential preventive and preventive function. These are the various information resources about the disease that health centers provide. This may include lectures or the distribution of printed educational material. Such material raises topics about how to spot symptoms of heart failure or organize one’s life not to provoke the development of the disease. An information resource is an integral part of a community resource because it can act as a preventive and prophylactic measure.
Summary
To summarize, heart failure is a severe and chronic disease that requires proper prevention and treatment. The main way to treat this disease is with different drugs, such as diuretics or beta-blockers. In order to increase the effectiveness of inpatient treatment of this disease, several innovations need to be introduced in hospitals. These practices include systems to control the fluids consumed and excreted by the patient and introduce a special diet. In this way, patients will be able to receive complete treatment. Community resources are an essential factor in the prevention and treatment of heart failure. This work highlights the most important of them – the medical centers and the informational and educational material produced by them. The inpatient care centers help patients cope with acute periods of illness, and the informational material serves an educational function. With its help, people will be able to make self-diagnosis and visit specialists in time in case of disease symptoms.
References
Singleton, M. C., & Branch, E. F. (Eds.). (2018). Advances in cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation. Routledge. Web.
Szymańska, E., Szymańska, S., Truszkowska, G., Ciara, E., Pronicki, M., Shin, Y. S., Podskarbi, T., Kępka, A., Śpiewak, M., Płoski, R., Bilińska, Z. T., & Rokicki, D. (2018). Variable clinical presentation of glycogen storage disease type IV: From severe hepatosplenomegaly to cardiac insufficiency. Some discrepancies in genetic and biochemical abnormalities. Archives of medical science, 14(1), 237–247. Web.
Yagel, S., Silverman, N.H., & Gembruch, U. (Eds.). (2019). Fetal cardiology: Embryology, genetics, physiology, echocardiographic evaluation, diagnosis, and perinatal management of cardiac diseases (3rd Ed.). CRC Press. Web.