What can I do to help?
Average rating:
- Diet. If you are overweight, try to lose weight to reduce the extra burden on your heart. Do not have too much salt in your diet, as salt may cause water retention. For example, do not add salt to your food at the table and avoid cooking with it.
- Do not smoke. The chemicals in tobacco cause blood vessels to narrow (constrict), which can make heart failure worse. Smoking is also likely to make ischaemic heart disease worse.
- Exercise. For most people with heart failure, regular exercise is advised. The fitter the heart, the better it will pump. The level of exercise to aim for will vary from person to person. Before you start to increase your exercise, get the 'go-ahead' from your doctor as some people with heart valve problems should not exercise. If you are not used to exercise, you could start by going for a daily walk. Cycling is also good exercises. Exercise may not be possible for some people for various reasons.
- Immunisation. You should have an annual 'flu jab, and be immunised against the pneumococcal bacterium. These immunisations protect against some severe chest infections which can be quite serious if you have heart failure.
- Weigh yourself each morning if you have moderate to severe heart failure. If you retain fluid rapidly, your weight goes up rapidly too. So, if your weight goes up by more than 2 kg (about 4 lb) over 1-3 days, then contact a doctor. You may need an increase in medication.
- Alcohol. Do not drink too much. As a maximum:
- Men should drink no more than 21 units of alcohol per week (and no more than four units in any one day).
- Women should drink no more than 14 units of alcohol per week (and no more than three units in any one day).
- If your heart failure is due to excess alcohol, you should have no alcohol at all.
- A unit of alcohol is 10ml (1cl) by volume (8g by weight) of pure alcohol. This is in about:
- A half-pint of normal strength beer, cider, or lager.
- A pub measure of spirits (25ml), or of fortified wine such as sherry (50ml).
- A small glass (125ml) of wine containing 8% alcohol by volume.
- Depending on the cause of the heart failure, some people are advised to not drink any alcohol at all.
Average rating:
Dennis R Kirlew, about 1 year
I found the artical very interesting It has given me some peace of mind thank you Mr D R Kirlew I do have heart failure
Report this comment