Jakarta (ANTARA) – Head of the Heart Failure Working Group of the Indonesian Cardiovascular Specialist Doctors Association (PERKI) dr. Siti Elkana Nauli said there are several symptoms that need to be watched out for in identifying heart failure patients, such as easily tired and short of breath and sleeping requires a higher pillow.
“Before the heavy level, when he did his job, he usually said he could take two stairs, now the distance up the stairs is much shorter, only half or only one level already complains of being tired or short of breath,” said Nauli in a discussion entitled “Why Should We Care Heart failure?” in Jakarta, Saturday.
Other signs of patients with heart failure include complaining of shortness of breath and pain when looking down. Another symptom is when sleeping requires more than one pillow to get a higher pillow position.
Symptoms of heart failure also include swelling of the legs and abdomen and coupled with difficulty breathing and making excessive sounds when breathing is a sign to watch out for for patients with heart failure.
“What happens to us is only us who knows. We should be aware, previously we could walk far from (now) shorter, lest we have other diseases. But not all patients with shortness of breath have heart failure,” he said.
He explained that as many as 64 million adult patients worldwide are living with heart failure, that number is expected to continue to increase with the rate of repeated hospitalizations and deaths still quite high. In Indonesia, heart disease occupies the first position with 12.9 million cases.
In addition, he highlighted that the rate of repeated hospitalizations for heart failure was still quite high and could lower the chances of survival. Because the more often patients are hospitalized, the patient’s survival rate is getting lower.
This is in accordance with 2018 InaHF National Registry data which states that 17 percent of heart failure patients in Indonesia will experience repeated hospitalizations, 17.2 percent of heart failure patients die during hospitalization, and 11.3 percent of heart failure patients will die within a week. one year of treatment.
He reminded that the biggest problem for patients with heart failure is the poor quality of life and the higher rates of re-admission or hospitalization.
“Therefore, the goal of treatment for heart failure is to improve quality of life, prevent repeated hospitalizations for heart failure and reduce complications,” he said.
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