Heart Failure: Causes and Symptoms of a Common Disease As Deadly as Some Cancers

“ heart failure This is a serious condition that occurs when the heart cannot pump blood properly. and therefore, it cannot deliver the necessary oxygen and nutrients to all the organs of the body,” explains Dr. Alejandro RecioPresident of the Heart Failure Association of the Spanish Society of Cardiology.

Behind this heart pathology there are different reasons How:

• Myocardial infarction

• Heart valve problems

• cardiomyopathy

• Have risk factors.

It is very important to know the symptoms of heart failure.

It’s not hard to know them because… Dr. Andres IniguezPresident of the Spanish Heart Foundation, Symptoms of heart failure are obvious:

• Dyspnea.

• Fatigue.

• Cardiopalmus.

• Swelling of the feet and abdomen.

• Lack of appetite.

• Dizziness

And this is very important, because, as the FEC President warns:

• “The appearance of any of these signs should make us suspect that we are suffering from a serious heart problem or are having a relapse, so we need to see a doctor.”

That is why cardiologists note you need to know the symptoms of heart failure to be able to identify them at an early stage and be able to diagnose it at an early stage. Because only then will it be possible to start treatment in time to improve the patient’s quality of life and reduce the risk of death.

• Because we shouldn’t forget this Heart failure is a disease with a high mortality rate. Actually, The survival rate of patients suffering from this disease is about 50% five years after diagnosis. The percentage is equal to the mortality rate from this pathology with the mortality rate from many types of cancer.

How is heart failure diagnosed and treated?

As Dr. Iñiguez notes: any signs of suspicion the fact that we may suffer from heart failure should make us go to a cardiologist.

This specialist will determine whether we are actually suffering from this heart disease, due to which he may expose the patient various tests such as:

• ECG

• Echocardiogram

• Specific blood tests

• Chest X-ray.

After the diagnosis has been made, The disease can be treated in different ways depending on the severity and characteristics. Thus, the patient can receive:

• Drug treatment

• He even underwent a heart transplant.

Heart failure statistics in Spain

According to data from the Spanish Society of Cardiology, In Spain, 770,000 people suffer from heart failurewhich is equivalent to the total population of provinces such as Cordoba, Guipuzcoa or Girona.

In particular, it is assumed that Between 4.7% and 6.8% of people over 45 years of age have this disease, and in people over 75 years of age this figure reaches 16%.

The mortality rates from this disease also attract attention, since according to the latest data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE):

• In 2022, 20,584 Spaniards died from heart failure: 12,409 women and 8,175 men.

Except:

1. Heart failure accounts for more than 25% of all hospitalizations for cardiovascular disease.

2. Every tenth person hospitalized with this pathology dies before discharge..

3. Over the course of a year, mortality increases to 20%.

4. And after five years it’s about 50%.

The problem is that the number of patients with this pathology is growing every year, according to Dr. Alejandro Recio: “The number of people suffering from heart failure is increasing mainly due to an increase in survival from other pathologies, such as myocardial infarction.” and population aging.

In fact, as the cardiologist adds:

• “Some studies conducted in neighboring countries show that The number of hospitalizations for heart failure will increase by 50% in the next 25 years.”