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Heart Failure Specialist

Cardiac Care Consultants -  - Cardiology

Cardiac Care Consultants

Cardiology & Electrophysiology located in Peoria, AZ & Sun City West, AZ

Getting early treatment for heart failure gives you the chance to keep the disease under control and slow down progressive heart problems. The experienced team at Cardiac Care Consultants offers a range of care, including advanced monitoring that lets them detect changes in real-time and immediately adjust your treatment. If you feel fatigued, have shortness of breath, or a cough, don’t wait to schedule an appointment. Call the office in Peoria, Glendale, Sun City West, or Wickenburg, Arizona, or use the online booking feature today.

Heart Failure Q & A

What is heart failure?

Heart failure, also called congestive heart failure, occurs when your heart can’t pump blood effectively. The heart muscles may not be strong enough to push enough oxygen-rich blood out to your body.

Alternatively, the muscles may not relax properly, which means the heart can’t fill up with enough blood. As a result, it doesn’t have enough blood to send to your body.

What causes heart failure?

Congestive heart failure occurs over time, developing gradually as an underlying medical condition damages your heart.

Health conditions that cause heart failure include:

  • Coronary artery disease
  • High blood pressure
  • Heart valve disease
  • Heart muscle inflammation (myocarditis)
  • Irregular heartbeat (heart arrhythmia)
  • Thyroid disease
  • Diabetes

 

Your risk of developing heart failure is higher if you have a family history of heart problems, smoke cigarettes, or drink too much alcohol.

What symptoms develop if I have heart failure?

If you have heart failure, you may experience:

  • Fatigue
  • Shortness of breath
  • Irregular or rapid heartbeat
  • Difficulty exercising
  • Persistent cough
  • Need to urinate during the night
  • Loss of appetite
  • Swelling in the abdomen
  • Swelling in the legs, ankles, and feet

The swelling, called edema, occurs because fluids build up in your body.

How is heart failure treated?

Cardiac Care Consultants creates a customized treatment plan that may include any of the following:

Lifestyle changes

Following a healthy diet, reducing sodium intake, and getting regular exercise have a big impact on your heart health and can ease the symptoms of heart failure.

Medications

Your provider prescribes medications to treat chronic conditions that cause heart problems, such as high blood pressure and hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol). You may also need to take medications that treat heart failure.

CardioMEMS™ HF System

After your provider implants a small sensor in your pulmonary artery, the CardioMEMS HF System remotely monitors your pulmonary artery pressure, sending information wirelessly to your provider.

Changes in the pressure are early signs of worsening heart failure. Catching the problem as soon as it happens allows your provider to make quick adjustments to your treatment to slow down the disease.

Cardiac catheterization

You may need a minimally invasive catheterization procedure to treat coronary artery disease, repair damaged valves, or implant a pacemaker or implantable cardioverter-defibrillator. The Cardiac Care Consultants team performs these procedures by guiding a flexible catheter through blood vessels to your heart.

If you experience shortness of breath, fatigue, or edema, call Cardiac Care Consultants, or book an appointment online today.