How Is Heart Failure Treated?

Early diagnosis and treatment can help people with heart failure live longer and more active lives. Treatment for heart failure depends on the type and severity. The goals of treatment for all stages of heart failure include:

• Getting good control of the conditions that caused the heart failure, such as coronary artery disease, high blood pressure or diabetes.
• Reducing symptoms.
• Preventing heart failure from getting worse.
• Increasing your life span and improving your quality of life.

Treatments usually include heart–healthy lifestyle changes, self–monitoring, medicines, and ongoing care. If you have severe heart failure, you may also need medical procedures or surgery.

Follow Your Treatment Plan

Treatment can relieve your symptoms and make daily activities easier. It can also reduce the chance that you will have to go to the hospital. It is important that you follow your treatment plan.

• Take your medicines as your doctor prescribes. If you have side effects from any of your medicines, tell your doctor. He or she might adjust the dose or type of medicine you take to relieve side effects.
• Make all of the lifestyle changes that your doctor recommends.
• Get advice from your doctor about how active you can and should be. This includes advice on daily activities, work, leisure time, sex, and exercise. Your level of activity will depend on how severe your heart disease is.
• Keep all of your medical appointments, such as visits to the doctor and appointments to get tests and lab work. Your doctor needs the results of these tests to adjust your medicine doses and help you avoid harmful side effects.

For more information about the treatment of heart failure, see the "Treatment" and "Living With" sections of Heart Failure.

For in–depth information about the symptoms and risk factors associated with heart failure, see Heart Failure, published by Mayo Clinic.

We want you to get more out of life. Our heart failure DM program gives you the benefit of working with a registered nurse who can help you stay on track with your daily treatment plan of diet, medication and/or activity.

Learn more and begin the enrollment process now.

Source: From Heart Failure, published by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, 2019