Blog
Over the past two decades, there has been a significant advancement in our understanding of heart failure. We had few treatment options for heart failure patients in the past because we only had access to medications. Now some Best Heart Surgeon provide patients with more cutting-edge therapies that enable them to live longer and with higher quality of life..
Medicines, such as those that lower blood pressure, enhance the heart’s capacity to pump blood, moderate the heart rate, and prevent heart muscle scarring, are one of the main ways we treat heart failure..
A few of years ago, the FDA approved ivabradine (Corlanor) and sacubitril/valsartan as two new medications (Entresto). The biggest improvement to our resources, in my opinion, is Entresto, which studies have shown lowers hospital admissions and heart failure-related mortality.
There are also more medicines in development. Omecamtiv mecarbil improves the effectiveness of the heart’s blood pumping. According to one study, if a person has heart failure with reduced ejection fraction—meaning their left side of the heart isn’t pumping blood as well as it should—they have a lower risk of dying. The FDA expedited the approval of this medication in May 2020.
The FDA is giving vericiguat, a different new medicine, first priority for assessment. It belongs to the group of medications known as soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) inhibitors that treat heart failure. Vericiguat has been shown in studies to reduce the risk of heart failure-related hospitalisation or death.
The sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitor class of medications is also promising. These drugs, which were first created to treat diabetes, seem to reduce the risk of passing away or needing to visit the hospital due to heart failure. People with or without diabetes can choose them.
When a patient with heart failure visits my clinic, I initially alter their medications in an effort to reduce their symptoms. I make every effort to increase their dosage. I’ll keep the person on medication if they respond nicely. However, some people struggle or worsen to the point where their heart failure severely restricts their activity or begins to have an impact on other organs. When that occurs, we evaluate the patient to determine whether they would benefit from a heart transplant or a left ventricular assist device (LVAD).
Devices called left ventricular assist units assist the heart’s primary pumping chamber in delivering blood to the body. With a heart transplant, a healthy donor heart replaces the diseased one. These treatments now use better technology, and our Best Heart Surgeon are much more adept at carrying them out. The outcomes of a transplant or a pump are very comparable in the near term. However, a heart transplant ultimately increases lifespan.
Knowing who will improve with medicine and who won’t is probably the largest issue we confront in our daily practise. We are aware of some drugs that can lower the chance of developing heart failure or of dying from it. Therefore, we administer those drugs and carefully monitor patients.
I believe that tailored medicine, in which we prescribe the drug we are confident will work best for each patient, is the way of the future of healthcare. Probably many years will pass before we arrive.
LVAD technology has advanced considerably. The likelihood of bleeding, strokes, and other issues as a result of receiving the device has decreased, and the heart pump has become much more dependable. Nevertheless, receiving one still entails the danger of open heart surgery. The device also requires external power, which means a cord must exit the body through the skin, which is a typical site for infection. The objective is to eventually have a cardiac pump that is completely implanted and doesn’t require any skin contact. Swimming will be possible, and people will be able to do pretty much anything they desire, which will enhance their quality of life.
Now our Best Heart Surgeon have better drugs for those who receive heart transplants to prevent the immune system from attacking the new organ. Additionally, we may keep a watchful eye out for indications of rejection and cardiac allograft vasculopathy, a condition in which the arteries feeding the transplanted heart begin to constrict quite quickly. This has resulted in a longer life expectancy and a lower risk of transplant-related problems. Additionally, we now know that recipients of new hearts can safely choose to receive a heart from a donor who has hepatitis C, which will lessen the nation’s organ scarcity.
In the interim, early diagnosis and therapy are crucial to controlling heart failure. This enables you to decide on your course of treatment before your heart failure worsens. Contact Best Cardiologist in Lucknow.
