How to Increase Your Life Expectancy With Heart Failure

By Jasmine Smith
August 23, 2021

Getting a diagnosis of congestive heart failure (CHF) can stop you in your tracks, but don’t let the name fool you. Your heart is not failing. It means your heart is having trouble pumping blood to the rest of your body. Although the condition can worsen over time and potentially be life-threatening if you don’t take the appropriate steps, having heart failure doesn’t mean your life is over. In fact, if you make the right lifestyle changes, you can slow CHF’s progression and increase your life expectancy.

What determines your life expectancy?

There are a number of things that can affect your life expectancy. Some are out of your control and others involve making changes to your lifestyle.

These are some of the things that may affect your life expectancy with heart failure:

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Ejection fraction. To get a better picture of your heart health, your doctor will administer a test such as an echocardiogram, which will show how well an area of your heart (the left ventricle) pumps out blood. An echocardiogram scans the heart and takes measurements. This will determine what percentage of your blood is being pumped out per heartbeat. An ejection fraction of 55% means that 55% of your blood is being pushed out with each thump. A normal ejection fraction typically falls between 50% and 70%, according to the American Heart Association.

READ: Is It Possible To Reverse Heart Disease?

Your doctor will watch that number closely and determine that you have a higher risk of a possibly life-threatening heart rhythm if it drops below 35%.

Staging. There are four stages of heart failure, which indicate how serious your condition may be:

Stage A: You don’t have full heart failure, but you have some risk factors. At this stage, you may have a family member with heart failure or have other medical conditions, such as high blood pressure, alcohol abuse, diabetes, or heart disease.
Stage B: Tests show that your heart has had some damage. You will most likely not notice the symptoms, but have a below-normal result on your heart function test. Most people with Stage B have an ejection fraction of 40% or less.
Stage C: You have some symptoms that may come and go, such as tiredness. At stage C, exercising may become more difficult. You may also have swollen or weak legs, or have shortness of breath.
Stage D: Your symptoms are more serious and aren’t improving with medication and other treatment.

Keeping up with medications. You will probably be prescribed several medications for your heart failure. Some medications may have side effects. How well the medications work may also change depending on how your condition changes. However, it is important that you don’t skip your

medications. Consult with your doctor if you are having extreme side effects.

READ: Heart Failure Often Missed in Black Patients

How to treat heart failure

The good news is doctors have learned a lot about how to treat heart failure through a combination of prescription drugs that can provide relief for most symptoms. With this revelation, life expectancy for patients with CHF has risen. About half of people diagnosed with heart failure will live at least five years or more compared with 41% in 2000, a study notes.

Reducing the fluid in your body will allow your heart to not have to work as hard. To help with this your doctor may recommend fluid restriction or suggest that you limit your salt intake.

Your doctor may also prescribe Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) to help your heart pump blood more effectively and increase life expectancy. These can be used alongside other medications.

You can also ask your doctor about beta-blockers, which will control your heart rate and increase your heart’s ability to pump blood.

If you have advanced heart failure, you may opt to get a left ventricular assisted device (LVAD), a pump that helps increase the heart’s ability to squeeze or receive a heart transplant. Older people, however, aren’t considered a fit for transplants.

READ: 8 Surprising Factors That Could Be Putting Your Heart At Risk

Additionally, making the following lifestyle changes can increase your life expectancy:

Diet– you should opt for a low-sodium diet and limit alcohol consumption. Alcohol consumption can weaken your heart muscles.
Exercise– you can work with your healthcare professionals to put together a workout plan that tailors your needs and tolerances. For example, aerobic exercises have proven to increase your heart’s ability to function.
Monitor your weight- if you have heart failure, you need to monitor your weight more closely. If you noticed that you have gained 2-3 pounds in just a couple of days, you should notify your doctor. Your doctor may increase your dose of diuretics to control the fluid accumulation before it becomes more severe.

Although CHF is not curable, you can improve your life expectancy with early detection, treatment and making the appropriate lifestyle changes.

Jasmine Smith

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