How To Overcome Hear Failure Since Its In Family Gens?

Posted on Tue, 21 Feb 2023

Question: Hello. Given the increased longevity thanks to modern medicine, is it virtually inevitable that most people in western society who reach the age of 90 or even earlier will suffer from the awful effects of congestive heart failure? Several relatives who earlier had not been in bad health for their age have suffered from it, especially the terrible weakness, nausea, and fluid buildup in the lungs. At 62 I cringe at the thought of facing what such relatives faced when they got to 90 and above. Thank you.

Answered by Dr. Panagiotis Zografakis (51 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
it is not

Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Heart failure is indeed a common problem in the elderly. 6-7 out of 10 may have some degree of heart failure. Many of them won't have advanced heart failure with significant fluid overload though. So the answer to your question is that it is not inevitable to suffer the consequences of a failing heart. It is true though, that all organ functions deteriorate with time. The lungs of a 90-year old individual cannot compare to the lungs of a 60-years old individual. The same applies to every organ. We can only see the skin wrinkling but all organs 'wrinkle' (not literally of course but their functionality decreases) inside the body.

The good news is that we have weapons to fight such disorders. Many patients do well with conservative treatment (with drugs and simple dietary measures that is) and won't suffer that much unless their heart failure progresses to more severe levels.

I hope I've answered your query. Please let me know if you need any clarification.

Regards!

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar