Treatment Options for Heart Conditions: Choosing the Best Treatment

Contents hide

1 Introduction

2 Lifestyle Changes for Heart Health

3 Medications for Heart Disease

4 Heart Procedures and Surgeries

5 When to Consult a Doctor

6 FAQs

Introduction

More than 17.9 million people suffer from chronic heart diseases all over the world and are searching for the best treatment option. These treatments include medication, lifestyle changes, and surgical procedures.

Your doctor will start by performing a physical exam and checking your family or genetic history before starting heart disease treatment.

Lifestyle Changes for Heart Health

Treatment for heart conditions can be a combination of heart medications and lifestyle changes, such as eating a healthy diet low in fats and sodium, exercising regularly, quitting smoking, and limiting alcohol use. It can also include procedures and surgeries that can be performed to help the heart work more efficiently.

Another way to protect your heart is to avoid smoking and steer clear of secondhand smoke, which can affect the health of your lungs.

In addition, you can also incorporate certain exercises into your daily routine to improve your overall health and increase your energy levels. Besides this, lifestyle changes also help you recover quickly from any heart failure treatment.

Much research found that a vegetarian diet, aerobic exercise, stress management training, and smoking cessation resulted in more regression of coronary artery disease in ambulatory patients than did usual-care lifestyle recommendations alone.

Medications for Heart Disease

Medications help to keep heart disease under control and prevent symptoms from getting worse.

They can also help to reduce the risk of developing a new heart condition, such as chest pain (angina) or high blood pressure. They are usually prescribed alongside lifestyle changes and any other treatment for a heart condition. The most common drugs to treat heart conditions are:

- Beta-blockers
- Calcium channel blockers
- Anticoagulants

These medicines for heart treatment can reduce your heart’s workload by relaxing your arteries and allowing more oxygen to reach them. They are usually prescribed alongside a diet and exercise plan.

These medicines also lower levels of triglycerides, which are another type of normal fat that, when elevated, increases your risk of heart disease. They can also be given after a heart attack to decrease the risk of heart damage and future heart attacks.

Other types of medicines include:

- Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors
- Angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs)

These medications for heart disease can decrease the levels of two hormones in the body that cause high blood pressure. If you are on medication for a heart disease treatment, always follow the instructions on the label, which tell you when and how much to take. You should also follow your doctor’s advice about when to stop taking medicine.

You will often be on a long-term prescription of medicines for your heart condition, so it’s important to continue them as directed by your doctor. It’s also important to ensure you follow the instructions on any over-the-counter medicine, herbal medicines, and supplements you are taking.

Heart Procedures and Surgeries

Surgery is the most effective heart failure treatment and is used when your doctor says you have a heart condition that needs to be addressed. Some of these conditions include:

- Blockages in your heart’s arteries
- Faulty heart valves or abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmia)

If medications don’t work, surgery is the last resort, particularly in acute cases of heart problems.

Depending on the type of heart treatment procedure you need, your surgeon may use several different approaches to repair a heart condition. In other cases, your surgeon may perform a minimally invasive procedure to treat your heart problem. Below we mentioned some surgery options.

- Angioplasty – It is the most widely used treatment option to repair the blockage of art’s arteries so that blood can flow smoothly. In this treatment, doctors insert a small stent to re-open the blocked artery.
- Maze surgery – This surgery option is mostly used in case of atrial fibrillation problems, also known as arrhythmia.
- Bypass surgery – When the artery is completely blocked, doctors replace the blocked section of arteries with a new one(usually taken from another part of the body)
- Heart transplant – When the heart disease is untreatable, doctors recommend a heart transplant procedure. This is the most complicated treatment, requiring much time for complete recovery.

Your surgeon and healthcare team will be with you every step of heart disease treatment to ensure your recovery goes as smoothly as possible. Your surgeon can provide you with prescriptions or other recommendations to ease your pain after surgery.

In acute health conditions, surgical treatment can be lifesaving. It can help reduce or eliminate symptoms, improve your quality of life, and extend your lifespan. Whether or not surgery is the right option depends on your age, overall health apart from your heart condition, and other medical factors.

You can also get in touch with the expert doctors at Narayana Healthcare based in your city to get immediate attention and medical support during injuries, health disorders or any other health concern.

When to Consult a Doctor

You can also get in touch with the expert cardiology doctors at Narayana Healthcare based in your city to get immediate attention and medical support during injuries, health disorders or any other health concern.

If you have a heart condition, follow-up care can help keep your symptoms at bay and ensure you get the best possible treatment.

FAQs

Q. What are the different treatment options for heart conditions?
A. Depending on the severity and location of the problem, treatment options may include medications, surgery, or a combination thereof.

Q. How do I know which treatment option is best for me?
A. Choosing the best treatment option depends on many factors, including your circumstances and preferences. Talk to your doctor about your individual needs and concerns and weigh the pros and cons of each option carefully before making a choice.

Q. Are there any risks associated with heart condition treatments?
A. As a person with a heart condition, you may wonder if there are any risks associated with the many treatments. Most risks associated with heart condition treatments are extremely rare and can be cured with further guidance.

Q. What lifestyle changes can I make to improve my heart condition?
A. Lifestyle changes like exercising regularly, eating a healthy diet, limiting alcohol intake, and getting Regular Medical checkups. These can help improve your heart condition and help you live a healthier lifestyle.

Q. Are there any natural treatments for heart conditions?
Ans. Exercise is a popular natural heart failure treatment for heart disease. Studies have shown that regular aerobic exercise can help reduce the heart’s symptoms.

References

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/237191
https://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/guide/heart-disease-treatment-care
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronary-heart-disease/treatment/
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heart-disease/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20353124
https://www.heartfoundation.org.nz/your-heart/heart-treatments
https://www.who.int/health-topics/cardiovascular-diseases