At Mercy Health Partners, you’ll find the clinical experience and technology you’d expect from a leading-edge healthcare provider. But you’ll also experience something else: compassionate and individualized attention. We call it the Mercy Circle of Caring and you’ll experience it at every point of interaction from registration to rehabilitation.
Watch the videos on the right for more information about congestive heart failure and how Mercy can help you stay heart healthy.
What is Congestive Heart Failure? CHF is a symptom that means your heart isn’t pumping as fully as it should. Blood moves through your body slower than normal, thus increasing pressure in the heart. If left untreated, kidneys are affected, causing your body to retain fluid. The buildup of this fluid causes the body to become congested; hence, the term congestive heart failure.
How serious is it? There are four stages of this disease. Earlier stages can be successfully treated with lifestyle changes and medication; later stages may require more aggressive treatment and may or may not be able to be treated successfully. Most patients can live a long life with CHF.
What causes it? CHF is really a symptom, rather than a diagnosis, as a result of other things going on in your body. Something else is causing it, such as kidney problems, a chronic lung condition, anemia, heart problems, alcohol or drug abuse, diabetes, thyroid disease, chemotherapy, a severe infection, and other things.
Who is at risk? If you have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary artery disease, history of alcohol abuse, history of rheumatic fever, sleep apnea, or family history of cardiomyopathy, you are at greater risk. Risk factors for CHF also include obesity and a sedentary lifestyle.
How do I know if I have it? Key symptoms include: • Shortness of breath, especially while lying down (do you like to prop up; breathe easier when you do?) • Shortness of breath during exertion, even work you usually do • Fatigue • Swelling in the ankles, legs, or abdomen
What should I do if I think I might have it, or have one or more risk factors? See your primary care doctor and discuss your concerns. Early detection and treatment are keys to living a healthy and long life. If you do have CHF, you’ll be seeing a cardiologist as well as a primary care physician, depending on what is causing the CHF. Your primary care physician can help coordinate the specialists and various medications you may be taking.
To make the most of your visit with your primary care physician, come prepared with information and questions. • Bring a list of your current medications • Bring a list of the symptoms you’re experiencing • Provide a list of medical conditions and previous surgeries • Provide your family medical history • List your social habits (including alcohol or tobacco consumption) • Tell your doctor of any recent heart testing
What can I do to stay healthy? • See your doctor yearly • Know your blood pressure numbers and what they mean • Know your cholesterol numbers and what they mean • If you are overweight and sedentary, get more exercise (park farther away, walk, make sure you get exercise every day) and lose weight • Eat less salt (don’t add it to foods, eat fewer prepared foods, look at sodium content on labels and avoid foods with high sodium content)
How can Mercy help me? Mercy Health Partners has a team of people and equipment that can properly diagnose and coordinate your treatment, across a variety of specialties.
The Mercy Anderson Heart Program makes a level of care formerly available only at downtown hospitals available within minutes of where you live. • The area's finest cardiac physicians and surgeons • An expertly trained nursing and technical staff • The latest open-heart surgery suites and catheterization laboratories • A Diagnostic Imaging Center, offering state-of-the-art, 64-Slice CT scan • Emergency department specially equipped to care for heart emergencies
Developed to Meet the Community Needs Growing numbers of people living in this area have reached an age where they need advanced treatment for heart problems. The Mercy Anderson Heart Program brings the area's leading cardiac physicians and the latest technology together to provide this treatment. Having this unprecedented level of care available to you within minutes can make a difference that can spare damage to your heart muscle, improve your outcome, and possibly save your life.
