What Is Heart Failure and How Is It Treated?
Heart failure is a condition, usually developing gradually, where the heart fails to pump sufficient blood to some parts of the body. Treatments typically target the underlying causes, medication for reducing symptoms, or changing one’s lifestyle.
Heart diseases are the number one cause of death globally, according to the WHO. Each year, cardiovascular diseases take around 17.9 million lives worldwide, and yet, heart failure remains largely ignored in the public eye.
Our experts at Pacific Prime Dubai have curated all the key things you need to know about heart failure, including its causes, symptoms, how it’s diagnosed, and more.
What is Heart Failure?
Heart failure generally refers to a condition wherein the heart doesn’t pump adequate blood to the various body parts. This condition typically develops over time.
In Dubai, this disease is no stranger to the city. In fact, many doctors in the UAE have reported seeing more heart attacks in younger people in the past few years. This makes it extremely important for anyone living in the UAE to understand what the risk factors are.
Heart Failure vs Heart Attack
Heart failure and heart attack are different conditions, but they are both forms of heart disease.
- Heart failure: A condition where the heart can’t pump sufficient blood to the rest of the body. The condition usually develops gradually.
- Heart attack: A heart attack occurs when there is a sudden loss of blood supply in the heart, leading to the death of a segment of the heart muscle. This is usually due to a blood clot in one of the arteries.
“Heart failure develops over time as the pumping of the heart grows weaker. It can affect the right side of the heart only or both the left and right sides of the heart. Most cases involve both sides of the heart.” Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan
In other words, heart failure doesn’t mean that the heart has stopped pumping blood. Instead, it’s a chronic condition that gradually gets worse as the years go by.
Types of Heart Failure
Heart failure can be broadly divided into four types – left-sided, right-sided, diastolic, or systolic heart failure. It can occur on either or both sides of our heart, and like a tired muscle, it can be either too loose or too stiff.
| Type of heart failure | Description |
| Left-sided |
|
| Right-sided |
|
| Diastolic |
|
| Systolic |
|
SOURCE: Healthline
Heart Failure Causes
Heart failure is often caused by other diseases. These include:
- Other heart diseases
- High blood pressure
- Diabetes
- And more
Let’s take a closer look at these causes.
Other Heart Diseases
Other heart diseases can weaken the functioning of the heart, leading to chronic heart failure.
For instance, ischemic heart disease occurs when a waxy, sticky substance (better known as fat or lipid deposits) builds up inside the coronary arteries. The substance disrupts the functioning of the heart by limiting blood flow through the heart. Over time, this can lead to heart failure.
High Blood Pressure
High blood pressure pushes blood against the artery walls. Over time, this can weaken the heart, leading to heart failure.
Diabetes
High levels of sugar in the blood can damage the heart over time. This then leads to heart failure.
Other Causes
There are many other factors that can weaken or damage the heart, leading it to pump insufficient oxygen-rich blood to other organs in the body. These factors include:
- HIV/AIDs
- Excess vitamin E
- Alcohol abuse
- Cocaine use
- Thyroid disorders
- Chemotherapy
- And more
Heart Failure Symptoms
The symptoms of heart failure are difficult to spot because of two reasons:
- The symptoms overlap with many other less serious diseases
- The symptoms often develop very gradually
Nevertheless, you should visit a doctor if you experience any of these symptoms:
- Shortness of breath
- Trouble breathing
- Fatigue
- Swelling in areas such as the veins in the neck, ankles, feet, legs, or abdomen
How is Heart Failure Diagnosed?
There is currently no single method that can diagnose whether you have heart failure. Typically, diagnosis of heart failure comes in three phases, including:
- Investigating your family medical history
- Performing a physical exam
- Doing more specialized diagnostic tests
Family History
When you visit the hospital, the first thing your doctor may do is ask whether you have any family members who suffer from heart disease.
This is because heart failure can be caused by other heart diseases that are hereditary.
Physical Exam
Next, your doctor may also perform a physical exam. These include:
- Listening to your heart for abnormal sounds
- Listening to your breathing to identify whether there are any extra fluid buildup in your lungs
- Check your neck, ankles, feet, legs, and abdomen for any swelling
Diagnostic Tests
Finally, your doctor may refer you to a cardiologist – a specialist doctor in the field of heart diseases.
The cardiologist may then perform various diagnostic tests, such as:
- Blood tests
- Electrocardiogram – records the electrical activity of your heart
- Echocardiogram – a type of ultrasound scan used to examine your heart
- Chest x-ray
- Breathing tests
After these three stages of diagnosis, your doctor will be able to tell you whether you are experiencing heart failure.
Heart Failure Treatment
There is currently no cure for heart failure. Treatments often target underlying diseases that lead to the disease, medications aimed at reducing symptoms, or lifestyle changes.
While underlying disease treatment and medicine choice may not be fully within your control, you can start making lifestyle changes today to avoid heart failure. These lifestyle changes include:
- Eating heart-healthy food – avoid food with high sodium, saturated fats, trans fats, and added sugar
- Exercising regularly – King’s College Hospital Dubai recommends these exercises for adults aged 18-64
- Quitting smoking – smoking increases your risk of developing heart diseases
Health Insurance Coverage for Heart Failure
In Dubai, insurers are mandated to provide coverage for pre-existing conditions including heart failure, though they are allowed to impose a waiting period of six months, during which time there is no coverage for these pre-existing conditions.
Outside of Dubai, since heart failure is a chronic medical condition, obtaining pre-existing condition insurance without the help of an expert can be difficult.
This is because many plans may not offer health insurance coverage for heart failure, while others may set limits on benefits relating to heart failure treatment, set high premiums, or impose a waiting period.
On the other hand, should you be diagnosed with heart failure after you are properly insured, the medical expenses will be mostly covered by your health coverage, and you won’t have to worry about not being able to find coverage for this chronic medical condition.
You should also remember that heart failure not only incurs hefty medical expenses, but there is also a significant chance that you will not be able to work for an extended period of time. The loss of income and the expenses of long-term care must then be covered with critical illness insurance.
For this reason, it is highly recommended that you consult an expert like Pacific Prime Dubai so that you’ll get the most cost-effective plan possible. We partner with global health insurance companies in Dubai to deliver bespoke health insurance solutions to all our clients.
If you’d like to know more about health failure coverage or any other health insurance-related matters, feel free to contact our team or visit our website for a no-obligation, free quote today!
Since joining Pacific Prime, Martin has become even more aware of the gap between the true value of insurance products and most people’s appreciation of it, and developed a passion for demystifying and simplifying matters, so that more people get the protection they need at a cost they can easily afford.
In his free time, Martin attends concerts of various genres, and plays the violin with piano accompaniment he pre-recorded himself or played live by his niece.
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