When you have heart failure, your heart tries to compensate for its lack of pumping power by beating faster (tachycardia) to keep up the same flow of blood around your body. This increased heart rate may sometimes be irregular and cause palpitations, which feel like your heart is racing or throbbing. You should discuss palpitations with your doctor or nurse.
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Animation explaining how the heart and body adapt in heart failure |
This guide for patients from the European Society of Cardiology aims to provide an overview of the latest evidence-based recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of heart failure.
In particular, it should help patients to understand the:
A series of 9 simple, captivating animations explaining heart failure and its treatment.
These narrated animations explain how a healthy heart works, what happens to it in heart failure and how various treatments work to improve your health.
How the normal heart works
What goes wrong in heart failure
How the heart and body compensate in heart failure
How heart failure causes fluid accumulation
How a heart attack can cause heart failure
How abnormal heart valves can cause heart failure
How vasodilators work in heart failure
How diuretics work in heart failure
How medical devices work in heart failure
Symptoms and events diary
Monitoring chart
Appointment record
Warning signs
Medicine chart
Preparing for your next appointment
Click to print these tools to help you monitor your heart failure
In this section you can watch, listen or read interviews with other people with heart failure and their caregivers.
Living well with heart failure in Ireland
What strategy did you use to understand Heart failure and how to live with it?
What is self-care? And what can you do to improve your daily basis with heart failure?
Patient in exercise training
What would you like to say to healthcare professionals about the importance of quality of life?
How the ESC Patients Guidelines can improve decision making?
How did your role as patient representative helped you with your diagnosis?
Patient with an ICD
Adjusting lifestyle and staying optimistic
Living with heart failure devices
Living with an LVAD
How to manage heart disease and pregnancy
What is heart failure in congenital heart disease?
What can patients do to live better with heart failure and congenital heart disease?
What treatments are available for people with heart failure and congenital heart disease?
An LVAD as a bridge to transplantation
and share your own views and experiences with other patients, families and caregivers.
The heartfailurematters.org website was developed under the direction of the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). The ESC is a world leader in the discovery and dissemination of best practices in cardiovascular medicine. Our members and decision-makers are healthcare professionals who volunteer their time and expertise to represent professionals in the field of cardiology in Europe and beyond.
