It’s time to talk about heart failure. Heart failure can affect anyone and everyone

27 April 2023

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Your heart is the life force, make sure you recognise the warning signs of heart failure:

  • Fighting for breath
  • Fatigued
  • Fluid build-up (swelling in legs/ankles)

If you have these symptoms, please see your GP and ask if it could be heart failure.

Heart failure has a higher death risk than many cancers and in the UK 200,000 people are diagnosed with heart failure every year.

The heart pumps blood and nutrients around the body. Heart Failure is when the pump is not working as well as it should. It usually happens because the heart has become too weak or stiff. If the heart does not work properly than the body cannot work properly.

Heart failure does not mean your heart has stopped working. It means it needs some support to help it work better. Speaking to your GP and getting a blood test can mean an early diagnosis and the start of treatment before becoming so sick that you need hospital care - 80% of people with heart failure are diagnosed for the first time in hospital; early treatment can prevent this.

For some, symptoms may be the feeling of more breathlessness than you felt previously, not being able to walk as far. Others may struggle to sleep at night as laying down flat makes them feel like they are drowning. Fluid build-up with swelling in the feet or ankles which can extend up to the leg. Speaking to a GP with these symptoms can mean a referral to a heart failure specialist nurse and drug treatment starting.

If left untreated the consequences can be fatal. In the UK, nearly 400,000 people have heart failure that is currently undetected. Knowing the warning signs could save up to 10,000 lives a year.    

Heart failure is treatable. Over the past 30 years’ treatment has advanced massively to help people live longer to help their heart function. It is important to seek help at an early stage, because the later the diagnosis the more unlikely it is to make a big impact with treatment.

Find out more information here - https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/heart-failure/

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