Congestive Heart Failure
What is Congestive Heart Failure?
Congestive heart failure a very severe heart condition whereby the heart is not able to pump enough blood that is required to meet the circulation needs of the whole body. The condition is seen to worsen over time but it is possible to live longer with the disease. The disease causes fluid to collect in the lower legs and this causes swelling (Moser, 2001). It may also collect in the lungs which causes shortness of breath. It causes exhaustion especially when exercising due to insufficient oxygen meant to reach the muscles. It results due to any condition that may lead to a change in the pumping power of the heart. Writers who offer nursing essay help at Edudorm essay writing service notes that this may include damages made to the muscle of the heart due to a heart attack. It may also happen due to hardening and thickening of the heart muscle due to venerable blood pressure. This may also be caused by diabetes or heart valves that are not functioning properly. The heart becomes thicker and larger when it is overworked beyond the normal workload. Congestive heart failure is diagnosed by doctors who look for sounds that are abnormal from the heart, strained or rapid breathing. The doctors may also look for swollen legs, swelling of the liver and inflated neck veins. Tests to diagnose the disease are done by the use of chest x’-ray electrocardiogram and echocardiogram (Moser, 2001).
Prescription Medications for Congestive Heart Failure
These are meant to improve how the heart pumps, remove excess fluid or enlarge blood vessels. They include Beta Blockers which help in lowering the heart rate, blood pressure and protecting the heart from some substances that may cause damage to the heart. They are usually started at a lower dose and later increased until they work beta. They have common side effects which include tiredness, dizziness and usual symptoms worsen. The other prescription is ACE Inhibitors which are meant to reduce damaging hormones that are produced by the body (Mancano, 2014). They also assist in opening blood vessels as well as lowering blood pressure in order to lower the heart’s workload. It also causes dizziness, kidney function changes, improved dry cough and increase in potassium levels. The other prescription is Losartan which works the same way with the ACE inhibitors. They do not cause coughs and their main side effects are increased levels of potassium, kidney’s function changes and dizziness. The other medication is Aldosterone Antagonist and is meant to avoid the body from creating hormones that can cause damage to the heart. They may cause tenderness or swelling in the breasts in men and women. The other prescription is Digoxin which is meant for slowing the heart rate and develops the ability of the heart to pump. The common side effects are poor appetite, digestive problems and nausea. The other prescription is Diuretics which get rid of excess body fluid and assist in breathing easily. Some diuretics may cause loss of potassium to some patients (Mancano, 2014).
Nonprescription Medications
The best thing to do is to prevent it from happening and this can be achieved through healthy diet and taking lifestyle measures throughout the life. The treatments aim at preventing the disease from worsening and causing more damage (Hosenpud, 2007). This may be done through controlling blood pressure through lifestyle measures like exercise and diet. The patients are advised to consult a nutritionist to have a diet that is designed for situations of each individual. Experts who offer nursing case study help at Edudorm essay writing service indicates that other recommendations include quitting smoking to avoid damaging the cardiovascular system. Salt should also be avoided as sodium encourages retention of fluid. Controlling risk factors is also advised and can be done by working with the doctors to control blood pressure and other heart problems. The other way is reducing stress because the body releases the hormones in response to depression and anxiety. The patients should as well focus on the positive things and should keep themselves busy to avoid a lot of thoughts. The patients are also advised on taking enough rests in order to avoid overworking the heart (Hosenpud, 2007).
Monitoring Congestive Heart Failure
Drug monitoring is used during the treatment as well as indicative purposes and selection is very significant. This is because many drug concentrations are not well related to side effects. For selected treatment monitoring focuses on enhancing the efficacy of drugs, minimizing toxicity and helping in diagnosis. Significant side effects of the drugs include mild skin rash, enlarged breasts, headaches, anxiety, weakness, dizziness, nausea and diarrhea (Aschenbrenner, 2009). Some drugs may interact with drugs used for treating heart failure and these may be other prescriptions, herbal products, vitamins and over the counter medicines. The desired outcome of the treatment of congestive heart failure is to relieve symptoms of congestion. The drugs should be able to accomplish sufficient control of congestion and fluid retention. Research has shown that glucocorticoids are good in managing decompensated heart failure. This is because it potentiates sensitivity of renal to diuretics most particularly in the patients with high dosage of diuretics. The desired results of pharmacological agents used in the treatment of CHF are maintaining function of the heart. They are also meant for improving the quality of life and also prolonging survival. Diuretics are the most significant component of managing congestive heart failure but chronic patients need additional agents. Combinations increase effectively the output of urine together with addition of thiazide (Aschenbrenner, 2009). Tutors who offer medical case study help at Edudorm essay writing service acknowledges that the ACE inhibitors are meant for the improvement of left ventricular function as well as survival. ARBs are recommended as a substitute for people with heart failure are not able to tolerate ACE inhibitors. The combination of the inhibitors and ARBs may be helpful for patients who still have symptoms even after therapy with diuretics. Digoxin is given to patients for a desired outcome of improving the systems. They are also given in order to minimize the rates of hospitalization for the patients who still have symptoms after diuretics’ therapy. Research shows that there is increased mortality in women with congestive heart failure who were taking digoxin. The desired income of all the agents is to improve the well being of all the patients for them to improve and recover (Aschenbrenner, 2009).
References
Moser, D. K., & Riegel, B. (2001). Improving outcomes in heart failure: An interdisciplinary approach. Gaithersburg, Md: Aspen Publishers.
Mancano, M. A., Gallagher, J. C., In Birtcher, K., Girsberger, S., & Parker, K. E. (2014). Frequently prescribed medications: Drugs you need to know.
Hosenpud, J. D., Greenberg, B. H., & Ovid Technologies, Inc. (2007). Congestive heart failure. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Aschenbrenner, D. S., & Venable, S. J. (2009). Drug therapy in nursing. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
