Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsHeart Failure MedicationsLifestyle ChangesOver-the-Counter TherapiesComplementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM)ProceduresFrequently Asked QuestionsNext in Heart Failure GuideEverything You Need to Know About Heart Failure
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Heart Failure Medications
Lifestyle Changes
Over-the-Counter Therapies
Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM)
Procedures
Frequently Asked Questions
Next in Heart Failure Guide
Heart disease cannot be cured, but survival and quality of life with heart failure can be improved with medical treatment, lifestyle modifications, and sometimes specialized surgical procedures.
Prescription medications, such as beta-blockers, angiotensin-receptor neprilysin inhibitors (ARNIs), and diuretics, are commonly used to treat heart failure.
Theresa Chiechi / Verywell
When medications aren’t enough to manage symptoms, or when a problem like anarrhythmiaorheart valve diseaseis the cause of heart failure, procedures such as valve replacement, a pacemaker, or other interventions may be necessary for some people.
This article will review the common medications and other treatment options that are commonly used in the management of heart failure.
Prescription medications are the most effective treatments for the management of heart failure. These medications often have to be adjusted periodically as the disease progresses.
The optimal therapy of heart failure typically requires combining several kinds of medications whenever possible.
Beta-Blockers
Beta-blockersare used for heart failure because they slow down the heart rate. This allows the heart to fill more completely before pumping, providing the body with more blood each heartbeat. This helps alleviate some of the fatigue you can experience due to heart failure.
Examples include:
Diuretics
Diuretics are medications that act on the kidneys and promote the elimination of water and excess sodium from the body. This relieves the edema and shortness of breath of heart failure, as both of these symptoms result from fluid buildup in the body.
Commonly useddiureticsinclude:
Potassium levels can become low with diuretic use, so mineral supplementation may be required.
Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme (ACE) Inhibitors
These medications work to relax the blood vessels to lower the pressure your heart has to pump against. The most commonACE inhibitorsused in heart failure include:
Angiotensin II Receptor Blockers (ARBs)
Aldosterone Antagonists
Aldosterone antagonists, such as Aldactone (spironolactone) and Inspra (eplerenone), block the action of a hormone called aldosterone and remove fluid from the body. They are known as “potassium-sparing” because they prevent the potassium level in the body from becoming too low.
Hydralazine
Angiotensin-Receptor Neprilysin Inhibitors (ARNIs)
Entresto combines valsartan, an ARB inhibitor, and an agent called sacubitril. Sacubitril inhibits the enzyme neprilysin, causing an increase in levels ofnatriuretic peptides, which help regulate blood pressure, as well as salt and fluid levels.
Entresto is still a relatively new treatment for heart failure, and its effect in comparison to the more established medications, as well as its long-term side effects, are not fully understood yet.
Dopamine
By making the heart beat more forcefully, dopamine helps it circulate oxygen-rich blood more efficiently. Dopamine also increases the amount of urine the body produces, which helps get rid of the extra fluid building up in the lungs, arms, and legs.
Interestingly, unlike many of the other medications used for heart failure that lower blood pressure, dopamineraisesblood pressure. In some circumstances, this effect is helpful becauselow blood pressuremay occur in heart failure.
Dopamine is an intravenous (IV) drug and is generally reserved for treating advanced heart failure. However, it can be especially useful in premature babies and infants with other heart problems. It can boost babies' heart rates and blood pressure, significantly improving their chances of survival.
Dopamine shouldn’t be taken withbeta-blockers, which lengthen and strengthen the normal effect of dopamine.
Other Heart Failure Medications
How An Intra-Aortic Balloon Pump (IABP) Works
If you have heart failure,lifestyle adjustmentsare an absolutely necessary aspect of managing your condition. While these changes cannot cure heart failure, they can help improve your quality of life. Not following these lifestyle recommendations is associated with worsening of the symptoms of heart failure and progression of the disease itself.
Reducing Salt
Eating salt causes the body to retain more fluid. This is not a problem for healthy people, as the body can rebalance and eliminate any excess fluid and salt fairly efficiently.
However, if you have heart failure or kidney disease, this doesn’t happen as efficiently as it should—increasing your chances of fluid accumulation.Many people with heart failure notice that symptoms of swelling and shortness of breath worsen with increased salt intake.
The American Heart Association recommends an ideal limit of 1,500 milligrams of sodium per day for most people,but ask your healthcare provider or dietitian how much salt you can consume on a daily basis. The best ways to cut salt intake include avoiding canned or processed foods and not using table salt.
6 Tips for Lowering Your Salt Intake
Healthy Diet
Aheart-healthy dietis also important for preventing heart failure from developing or getting worse, because coronary artery disease (CAD) is a major contributor to heart failure. You should avoid excess cholesterol and fat (especially trans fat), and instead base your diet mostly on whole, unprocessed foods.
Keys to a Heart-Healthy DietEat plenty of fruits and vegetables.Choose whole grains rather than refined ones.Limit red meat, and instead get your protein from fish, lean poultry, and legumes.Avoid added sugars.Choose low-fat or nonfat dairy products.Get healthy fats from sources like nuts, avocados, and olive oil.
Keys to a Heart-Healthy Diet
Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables.Choose whole grains rather than refined ones.Limit red meat, and instead get your protein from fish, lean poultry, and legumes.Avoid added sugars.Choose low-fat or nonfat dairy products.Get healthy fats from sources like nuts, avocados, and olive oil.
Watching Weight
Maintaining a healthy weight helps protect your heart from the burden of having to pump blood to support a heavier body—a concern, as a strain on the heart is already a problem in heart failure. To lose weight successfully, you may need advice from a dietitian, who can evaluate your diet to see if you should cut back on carbohydrates, fat, or calories in general.
For some people, weight loss surgery is an option when diet and exercise aren’t enough to lose weight. Bariatric surgery has been shown to help prevent and manage heart failure.
Physical Activity
Staying active is important for everybody, but for people with heart failure especially, it can keep your heart muscle strong. Over time, it can help make the heart work more efficiently, reducing heart rate and blood pressure. It can also boost your stamina and improve your breathing.
Exercise may not be easy for everyone with heart failure, so you should be careful to avoid overexertion.Walkingis an ideal activity for most people. Remember to slow down or take a break if you ever feel too short of breath, or if you feel dizzy or faint.
Always talk with your healthcare provider before starting a new exercise routine. They can tell you which activities and intensity level are safe for you. They might even suggest a cardiac rehab program.
Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) Diets for Heart Health
Over-the-counter (OTC) medications are not normally beneficial in heart failure. In fact, a number of them can cause heart failure to worsen.Some can also interfere with prescription heart failure medications, preventing them from working as they should.
If you have heart failure, it is best not to use OTC drugs, even for routine health problems, without checking with your healthcare provider or pharmacist first.
Some of the most common OTC medications you should avoid if you have heart failure include:
A few OTC medications that are considered safe to take if you have heart failure include:
But again, it’s always best to check with your healthcare provider before starting a new medication if you have heart failure.
Heart Failure Doctor Discussion GuideGet our printable guide for your next doctor’s appointment to help you ask the right questions.Download PDFEmail AddressSign UpThank you, {{form.email}}, for signing up.There was an error. Please try again.
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Some complementary therapies have been proven helpful in managing heart failure. These approaches do not cure or improve the condition, and they have not been proven to prolong life. However, they may improve symptoms and help prevent heart failure from worsening.
Surgery or other procedures do not cureheart failureitself. They can, however, improve heart function, regulate an irregular heart rhythm, or repair a heart valve abnormality, which may be appropriate and beneficial in some—though not all—people with this condition.
Defibrillator
An implantable defibrillator is a pacemaker-like device that is used to prevent sudden death in people who are at high risk for this event. If a dangerous arrhythmia occurs, the implantable defibrillator can automatically deliver a shock to the heart to restore the rhythm back to normal.
Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (CRT)
A CRT device is a specialized pacemaker that can coordinate the pumping action of the heart’s right and left ventricles, to improve the efficiency of the heartbeat. CRT can be useful in selected people with heart failure who also have certain kinds ofbundle branch block.
Implantation of a defibrillator or CRT device may take place in the operating room or in a specialized cardiac suite in the hospital. They are usually done under local anesthesia and are typically tolerated well. Most people stay in the hospital for observation for about 24 hours.
Left Ventricular Assistive Device (LVAD)
LVADs are battery-operated pumps implanted in the body to assist the heart with pumping. They were initially considered a way to support the heart function for people who were waiting for heart transplants, but they are effective and can be used as a more long-term plan.
Placement of these devices requires general anesthesia and a recovery period of several days. You should also expect your medical team to test the effectiveness of the device shortly after the procedure and periodically for the long term.
Left Ventricular Assist Devices (LVAD): What to Know
Heart Transplant
A heart transplant is a procedure in which your heart is surgically removed and completely replaced with a donor’s heart. This is a major surgical procedure, requiring general anesthesia and intense monitoring during surgery. You should expect close monitoring after surgery, several weeks of recovery, as well as a plan for cardiac rehabilitation after your transplant.
Catheter Ablation
You may have the procedure in the operating room or in a specialized cardiac procedural suite in the hospital. You can expect a relatively quick recovery if your procedure is uncomplicated.
Valve replacement
A replacement heart valve can address blood flow restriction due to abnormal valve structure. This may be a routine procedure, or it may be quite extensive, depending on the severity of the valve problem and how many valves are affected.
A heart valve replacement uses either an artificial valve or one composed of human or pig tissue. Whichtype of heart valve replacementis best for you depends on your anatomical heart valve problem and your personal preferences.
Summary
Although there is no cure for heart disease, survival and quality of life can be improved with medical treatment, lifestyle modification, and specialized surgical procedures.
A Word From Verywell
Heart failure is a complex disease that requires a personalized approach. Taking prescription medications to improve your symptoms and help your heart pump more efficiently is just one part of a thorough treatment plan. Understanding how these medications work and the potential side effects is key to figuring out the best treatment plan that works for you.
An individual’sprognosisafter beingdiagnosedwith heart failure will depend on a variety of factors, such as their age, how severe their condition is, and what has caused it. That said, the one-year survival rate for chronic heart failure is 80% to 90%, the five-year survival rate is 50% to 60%, and the 10-year survival rate is 30%.
Heart failure is a complex condition. No two cases of heart failure are the same. Treatment needs to be fine-tuned to your particular condition. Diuretics and beta blockers are mainstays of therapy that are commonly used to lessen acute symptoms.
How to Be an Effective Caregiver for a Person With Heart Failure
15 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
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