Heart Failure Awareness Week (HFAW), February 11-17, 2024, was established to encourage education and awareness about heart failure and best practices for prevention. ¹
While February’s American Heart Month is designed to promote education about the prevalence and prevention of heart disease, Heart Failure Awareness Week is a celebration of heart-related hospitalizations and heart failure, which affects millions of Americans. It focuses on specific diseases that cause death. It is estimated that over 950,000 new cases of heart failure occur each year, and heart failure contributes to up to 36% of all cardiovascular disease mortality.
Given that heart failure is such a serious condition, it is important to help patients understand their risks and how they work. What is the theme for this year’s Heart Failure Awareness Week? And what’s new in heart failure research and treatment?
Heart Failure Awareness Week 2024
Heart Failure Awareness Week is held the week of Valentine’s Day. So in 2024 he will be from Sunday February 11th to Saturday February 17th.
As of this writing, the schedule for HFAW 2024 has not been announced. Each day of the week is typically devoted to a different heart failure topic. In 2023, each day within Heart Failure Awareness Week focused on topics such as heart failure diagnosis, management, patient-provider relationships, and milestones. ⁴ Social media discussions and hashtags will also be encouraged during HFAW. This year’s hashtag will be #HFWeek2024. ¹
HFAW 2024 Theme: The Pulse of Research
The theme for Heart Failure Awareness Week 2024 is “Heartbeat of Research,” a deeper look into the world of heart failure research and what it means for the present and future of heart failure treatment and care⁵ includes providing a deeper understanding. Heart failure is the leading cause of death in the United States, yet research funding lags behind other diseases, prompting an overhaul of the clinical trial process and more funding for research.
Additionally, the ‘Heartbeat of Research’ theme promotes awareness and understanding of heart failure statistics for educational purposes⁵ Being able to better educate people about heart failure will not only help promote preventive measures, but also help patients and healthcare It may help practitioners establish individualized treatments. Plans for heart failure patients.
Heart Failure Awareness Week: History and Impact
The Heart Failure Association of America (HFSA) first helped establish Heart Failure Awareness Week in 2000, and HFAW ran from February 14 to 21⁶ The initiative had the same goals then as it does today. . It’s about educating patients about the recognition and treatment of heart failure. At the same time, it raises awareness of the disease and people living with it. Heart failure is on the rise, with deaths from heart failure increasing by 120% from 1979 to 1996. At the time, it was estimated that 400,000 people were newly diagnosed with heart failure each year.
Since HFAW’s founding, the Heart Failure Association of America has continued and expanded its advocacy efforts in the medical field. This may include working with other interested parties to comment on proposed changes to coverage policies for ventricular assist devices, and providing support to the National Institutes of Health to support research that has stalled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes advocating for funding. HFSA also launched the HFSA Learning Center to provide continuing education on heart failure and the HFSA Awareness 365 initiative to increase heart failure awareness year-round. ⁸
Since Heart Failure Awareness Week began, other organizations have also launched education and awareness efforts. In 2002, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute truth of heartThe program is an initiative to raise awareness about heart disease, the leading cause of death in women⁹ Originally designed to promote education among women between the ages of 40 and 60, the program has also been expanded to encourage preventive measures.
american heart month
In addition to Heart Failure Awareness Week, February is also American Heart Month. American Heart Month focuses on preventing heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States. ² Heart disease prevention measures, including lifestyle changes such as diet and exercise, can help prevent heart failure.
Definition of congestive heart failure
Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a syndrome in which the heart struggles to do its job of pumping enough blood to other parts of the body. ¹° CHF can develop as a result of several different symptoms, including:
- ischemic heart disease
- high blood pressure
- cardiomyopathy
- heart valve disease
- obesity
The heart may become too weak to pump enough blood (systolic heart failure) or have difficulty filling it with enough blood (diastolic heart failure). Either way, heart failure causes both congestion and fluid accumulation. It causes symptoms of CHF.
Congestive heart failure has different stages based on symptoms and severity. ¹º The American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association characterize stages A through D of severity, ranging from risk of heart failure to intractable symptoms that affect quality of life. This can lead to hospitalization. The New York Heart Association classifies heart failure into classes I through IV, from class I, which causes symptoms after strenuous activity, to class IV, which causes symptoms even when at rest.
Symptoms of congestive heart failure may not immediately indicate CHF, so people at risk should be aware of how congestive heart failure affects the body. Symptoms of heart failure include:
- Shortness of breath when doing simple movements or going up and down stairs
- Tired easily
- Difficult to lie down and sleep
- cough
- nausea
- Anorexia
- swelling of the feet, ankles, legs, or abdomen
- increased need to urinate
Latest heart failure research
Recent research on heart failure has led to a better understanding of how many people are at risk, the possible outcomes of modern treatments, and the potential for new treatment options.
2023 Report heart failure journal It is estimated that 6.7 million Americans over the age of 20 have heart failure, and this number is expected to increase to 8.5 million by 2030.¹¹ Researchers found that the lifetime risk of heart failure is currently 24% and 33% of the adult population claim to have heart failure. The United States is currently in crisis. Disparities based on race and geographic region also emerge. Black and Hispanic Americans are much more likely to develop heart disease, while Americans living in rural areas have higher mortality rates and show a significant lack of access to care. Overall, heart failure mortality rates have increased since her 2012.
Other studies have also observed an increase in the incidence of heart failure, noting that it could potentially impact the healthcare system. April 2023 Survey heart Researchers used digital health systems to examine statistics on heart failure and healthcare costs and estimated that as many as 2% of the adult population suffers from heart failure¹². The researchers also claimed that the most common comorbidities were ischemic heart disease and chronic kidney disease, which did not require hospital treatment. Costs were highest for heart and kidney conditions. They say this information is critical for healthcare providers to apply when considering treatment and management of heart failure.
Management/Treatment of Congestive Heart Failure
Although heart failure is an incurable disease, there are steps patients can take to manage it and positively impact their quality of life and longevity. If a patient is in at-risk stage A, lifestyle modifications such as a healthy diet and physical activity may be recommended. ¹⁰
In severe cases, surgery may be required to treat heart failure. Depending on the situation, patients may need an implantable cardioverter defibrillator to reset the heart rhythm or a left ventricular assist device to help pump blood¹3. In some cases, a heart transplant may be necessary.
Medications for heart failure
Medications are often prescribed to CHF patients to provide a good quality of life. These heart failure drugs work in different ways to reduce the burden that heart failure takes on the body. For example, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) can be used to widen blood vessels and reduce heart work14. ARBs may also be combined with neprilysin inhibitors to improve blood flow. It improves blood flow and reduces the burden on the heart. SGLT-2 inhibitors, hydralazine, statins, potassium, and diuretics may also be considered. Appropriate treatment depends on the patient’s symptoms and severity.
Beta blockers in heart failure
Beta-blockers are another common treatment option for CHF patients. To slow a patient’s heart rate, beta-blockers such as carvedilol or metoprolol succinate can be used to help the heart pump blood better and restore strength.
read more: Beta blockers in heart failure management
How to prevent congestive heart failure
The lifestyle modifications listed above are best for preventing congestive heart failure, but they are best started before you are considered at risk. Starting a healthier diet to maintain a healthy weight can help reduce the strain on your heart, while exercise can help strengthen your heart. Smoking also increases the risk of heart disease, so smokers are encouraged to quit as soon as possible.
Conditions that can eventually lead to heart disease, such as high blood pressure and diabetes, must be carefully managed¹⁵ If left untreated, they can lead to heart disease and eventually heart failure.
The importance of heart failure awareness
Heart failure awareness is important not only for preventive purposes, but also because patients may not have enough information about what it’s really like to have and live with heart failure. Given that the number of adults with heart failure is expected to increase in the coming years, education can help those at risk avoid heart failure and improve the quality of life for patients who develop heart failure. It may be helpful. Heart Failure Awareness Week is being conducted in hopes of promoting education and research based on the severity of heart failure, the leading cause of death.
