Medical Devices for Severe or Advanced Stage Heart Failure Treatment - Medical / Health Care
In the most advanced stages of heart failure, in some cases, doctors recommend surgery to treat the disease. Heart Transplant & Ventricular Assist Devices are included in this category. These therapies are often a last option for patients with the most severe forms of heart failure.
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Understanding Heart Failure Treatment Options
Providers sometimes can correct heart failure by treating the underlying cause. For example, repairing a heart valve or controlling a fast heart rhythm may reverse heart failure. But for most patients, heart failure is a chronic disease needing lifelong management. Nowadays, with appropriate treatment, signs and symptoms of heart failure can improve, and the heart can sometimes even regain strength. For many patients, the treatment of heart failure involves a balance of being prescribed the right medications, but now the use of devices that help the heart contract properly and beat more regularly are available as well.
In the early stages of heart failure providers will make treatment decisions based on symptoms. If you are a patient that does not experience any symptoms during typical physical activity, your treatment may consist of lifestyle changes and monitoring alone.
As time goes on, and depending on your symptoms, you might begin taking one or more medications designed to ward off symptoms. These drugs help people with heart failure live longer and feel better but these therapies lose effectiveness as the disease progressively gets worse.
Typical medications used to treat heart failure include:
- Angiotensin Receptor Neprilysin Inhibitors (ARNI)
- Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors
- Angiotensin II receptor blockers
- Beta blockers
- Diuretics
- Aldosterone antagonists
- Inotropes
- Digoxin