Best Heart Failure Specialist In Thane | Dr Gautam Rege
What is heart failure?
The heart is a muscular valve that pumps blood to different parts of the body. Heart failure occurs when the heart pump weakens and the heart can no longer pump the amount of blood the body needs.
What are the signs and symptoms?
When a person suffers from heart failure, breathing becomes difficult during exertion and later at rest. Sudden weight gain can be a symptom of heart failure. Swelling of the ankles and legs is another common symptom of best heart failure specialist in Thane. Some people may also have an irregular heartbeat or fast heart rate.
What are the most common causes?
Coronary heart disease, i.e. blockage of the heart arteries, is the most common cause, especially after a heart attack.
It can occur in patients with long-term high blood pressure, diabetes or thyroid disease, and after chemotherapy for cancer treatment.
It can also occur in people with HIV infection.
Excessive alcohol consumption can also weaken the heart muscle and lead to heart failure.
Idiopathic cardiomyopathy occurs when a small number of people develop best heart failure specialist in Thane without an identified cause.
How do you know if you have heart failure?
When we suspect heart failure, we can perform a series of tests to confirm the diagnosis.
ECG - this shows if there are signs of a previous heart attack, which could be the cause of heart failure. The ECG can also show if the patient is a candidate for cardiac resynchronization therapy if medication is not working.
Two-dimensional echocardiography and Doppler ultrasound is an ultrasound examination of the heart in which we can measure the size of the different chambers, look for leaky heart valves and assess heart function using left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). In a normal person, LVEF is more than 60%, if this value is low, the person is predisposed to heart failure.
NTproBNP is a blood count that is elevated in patients with best heart failure specialist in Thane. It is useful when the cause of breathlessness is unknown and the most common cause is lung disease. When NTproBNP levels are high, doctors know the patient is experiencing heart failure.
What is the best way to manage heart failure?
The first thing to do is to look for causes of heart failure that can be treated. If the underlying cause is addressed, heart failure will get better on its own. For example, if heart failure is caused by a blockage in the heart's blood vessels, the heart receives less blood, which weakens the heart muscle. By removing the blockage with coronary angioplasty / CABG surgery, we can improve heart function and treat heart failure.
Diet and lifestyle changes are often recommended to treat heart failure. Here are some of these recommendations:
The most typical recommendation is to reduce salt and water intake.
Salt in the diet can lead to increased fluid retention in the lungs and other parts of the body. Therefore, limiting salt intake can help treat heart failure symptoms. The standard recommendation is to avoid table salt, pickles and spices. It is also important to drink enough water. People with severe best heart failure specialist in Thane are advised to drink less than 1.5 liters of fluid per day. Water, milk, tea, curd, soups and other liquids are considered fluids. To monitor your fluid balance, weigh yourself on the same scale at the same time every day. Weight gain is a sign that you are retaining more fluid than you should.
Control your weight - if you are overweight, your heart has to work harder to supply blood and oxygen to your body. Losing weight can be beneficial and take the strain off your heart without overworking it.
Limit your alcohol intake - too much alcohol is bad for your heart, especially if you have best heart failure specialist in Thane.
Medications - there are a number of medications that can help improve heart function and these should be used in combination with lifestyle changes.
Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy - if medicines don't work, a CRT-P/CRT-D (cardiac resynchronization therapy) device can help some heart failure patients. This device works like a pacemaker: three wires are inserted into the heart and resynchronize the heartbeat, improving heart function.
Heart transplant - patients who do not improve with treatment need either an artificial heart (LVAD, left ventricular assist device) or a heart transplant.