What is Heart Failure? 

The term “heart failure” in usually synonymous with congestive heart failure. Traditionally, the word “congestive” was used because heart failure often results in fluid buildup in the lungs and feet. With this condition the heart is failing to meet the circulatory needs of the body. In most cases either the heart does not fill adequately with blood or it fails to eject enough blood. Many disorders may contribute to this condition. As with most heart related issues, heart failure becomes more prominent with age.¹ 

Structural and functional flaws are the primary causes of heart failure but there may be other catalysts as well. Diabetes and coronary artery disease have emerged as the main factors associated with heart failure. Other common conditions leading to heart failure include: 

• Hypertension 
• Heart valve dysfunction 
• Uncontrolled arrhythmia 
• Inflammation of heart muscle (myocarditis) 
• Birth defects of the heart 

Dealing promptly with these issues will help to repel a future confrontation with heart failure. We recommend that anyone with these conditions get prompt professional care to eliminate or reduce the danger from these conditions. 

What Are the Symptoms of Heart Failure? 

Over six million Americans have heart failure.² It may be undiagnosed in the majority of cases.³ This means that millions of Americans are unknowingly carrying around what amounts to a ticking timebomb. Keeping an eye open for the symptoms of heart failure may spur people to visit a physician and get the help they need before the disease progresses too far. Here are the most common symptoms: 

• Fatigue 
• Labored breathing 
• Exercise intolerance (easily out of breath) 
• Fluid retention (lungs and ankles) 
• Wheezing 
• Persistent cough
• Rapid or irregular heartbeat
• Swelling of the belly  

Of course the best course of action is to take steps to avoid heart failure well before any symptoms occur. We hope that this article will educate and motivate you to adopt or continue a lifestyle that significantly diminishes the ability of heart failure to ever become a problem. 

Avoiding Heart Failure 

To get ahead of heart disease and keep it a safe distance behind us, we will need to pile as many good practices as possible on the positive side of the scale. Let’s look at just four factors and see how they impact risk of suffering with heart failure. Here are the four factors:⁴ 

1. Walking pace greater than 2 mph
2. Leisure time physical activity greater than 850 calories per week 
3. No current smoking 
4. Body mass index less than 30 

For a reference group we will use people that have zero or one of these factors in play. When we start to pile up more good stuff the threat of ever having heart failure diminishes sharply (see chart below). 

A fifth factor that was not part of this study is the implementation of a whole-food plant-based diet. Earlier we mentioned that diabetes and coronary heart disease are major contributors to heart failure. Both of these afflictions are highly influenced by dietary practices as is excess body weight with a BMI above 30. Concentrating on eating only unprocessed whole plant foods will help alleviate all of three of these factors that hasten heart failure. 

Hope for Those with Heart Failure 

The sudden realization that heart failure is present may bring a sense of despair. We want you to know that there is indeed good reason for hope of reversing or softening the impact of heart failure. Here we present a case report of an individual that turned around heart failure in less than six months.⁵ 

A 54-year-old women went to see her doctor complaining of significant pain in her left leg. Upon examining the woman, her physician decided to run diagnostic tests to probe for any dysfunction in the heart. It was discovered that she had dysfunction in her left ventricle and her ejection fraction was only 25 percent. This means that her heart was not filling and emptying properly and her body was being starved of necessary circulation. She claimed to practice a healthy Western diet, but when details of her diet were examined it became clear her diet was contributing to and not solving her health problems. The woman also had diabetes as indicated by a hemoglobin A1C reading of 8.1.  

Alarmed by her test results and diagnoses, the woman earnestly adopted a healthy plant-based diet. The following table shows the tremendous improvements she experienced after 5.5 months on the life-giving whole-food plant-based diet. Not only had her ejection fraction more than doubled, but her BMI dropped 10 points and her hemoglobin A1C indicated diabetes was under control. 

In this case study the main lifestyle treatment was improvement in diet. Adding other lifestyle factors such as exercise, that combat the primary causes of heart failure, such as hypertension, may add serious weight to the good side of the heart failure reversal scale.  

Where to Start? 

Seeing this kind of transformation is truly heartwarming. A great place to initiate a metamorphosis like this is to get some diagnostic tests performed. Hopefully these tests will show no problems with your heart. If you have some of the symptoms we mentioned earlier and tests confirm heart failure, don’t despair. Through wise planning, determination, and great medical support, there is good chance a winning strategy developed by patient and physician can eliminate or tame heart failure. We look forward to serving you in this regard. For more information or if you would like an appointment with Dr. Facemire please visit us at provider.kareo.com/dr-anabel-facemire.