Complaints & connections · borters.ch
The heart no longer quite manages its pumping — today very treatable, and every kilo of water less relieves it.
Also known as: heart failure
Open in the tool — with search and all the links →This compilation is for information and replaces neither medical diagnosis nor treatment. If you have symptoms, see a doctor.
Heart failure means the heart can no longer get enough blood into the circulation — either because the muscle pumps too weakly or because it is too stiff and fills poorly. Both feel similar but are treated differently. The body first helps itself: it holds back water and salt and narrows the circulation — sensible short term, burdensome in the long run. Exactly from this the typical signs arise: breathlessness first on exertion, later lying down, water at the ankles, passing water at night, quick exhaustion and a weight that rises within a few days. The most common causes are long-standing high blood pressure, past heart attacks, valve problems, rhythm disorders and alcohol. Heart failure is well treatable today, and treatment works the better the earlier it starts. The most important contribution from home is unspectacular: weigh yourself daily at the same time. Two kilos in three days are almost always water and a reason to get in touch, before the breathlessness arrives.
Easy, longer sessions build the aerobic base – the foundation of VO₂max.
Short hard intervals raise VO₂max especially efficiently.
In the morning, after the toilet, same scale. It is the most effective single action.
Not the pinch while cooking is the problem, but ready meals, bread and cheese.
Adapted training improves capacity and quality of life — resting does not.
How much to drink is a medical question — not automatically less.
Anyone who lived for years in Latin America and develops unexplained heart weakness is tested for it. The test is a simple blood draw, and monitoring starts before the symptoms.
Today’s four drug groups unload the heart instead of driving it. They lengthen life measurably, and in some people the heart shrinks back again — one of the few cases where an organ reverses.
About one to two in a hundred adults are affected, and about one in ten from seventy. With today’s four drug groups mortality falls markedly, and in some the pumping function recovers over six to twelve months — a real reverse gear, not just a slowing.
Needing a second pillow at night is often already a sign.
The sock mark stays visible — a simple sign.
Two kilos in three days are water, not fat.
Lying down, water returns from the legs and is passed out.
Often the first thing noticed — and the most easily passed over.
Studied in a larger trial in heart failure; taking it is discussed with the doctor.
Supervised training improves capacity and quality of life — cardiac groups exist for this.
Traditional heart remedy; with existing heart medication, taking it belongs discussed.
The traditional heart remedy; with existing heart medication, taking it belongs discussed.