Early diagnosis and treatment are very important in heart failure. Today, doctors can do much to help people with heart failure live more normal lives and reduce risk for being hospitalized. The first forms of treatment are usually focused on the causes of heart failure. These include coronary artery disease, valvular abnormalities, high blood pressure, abnormal heart rhythms, anemia and thyroid problems. Treating heart failure itself as early as possible offers the best chance for a longer and better quality life.
Patients usually use a combination of medications for heart failure.
While progress has been made in treating heart failure with new or different combinations of drugs, medications don't work for all patients. And, medications are intolerable or ineffective in 38 percent of heart failure patients. The following descriptions of therapies include investigational devices, limited by United States federal law to investigational use. Other therapies are being explored for the treatment of heart failure, including certain surgical procedures and implantable medical devices. One type of surgery involves taking muscle tissue from another part of the body and sewing it to the heart muscle to strengthen pumping ability.