Ultimately, the only cure is a heart transplant. We assume that all organs have a finite life span, but nobody knows for sure. The National Institute on Aging has done studies showing that people can live well into their 90's without developing any heart disease. Still, as the average person ages, their heart gets 'stiffer' even without an underlying disease. The heart has more fibrous tissue and there's the gradual loss of heart cells, which don't divide, so you have fewer cells to do the work.
Some people even talk about heart failure as an accelerated aging of the heart.
But we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that heart failure is definitely a disease. With more research, this epidemic among the elderly should be preventable. Since coronary heart disease is the main cause of heart failure, anything you do to prevent that first heart attack, like exercising and eating a low-fat diet, is important. You should always treat high blood pressure. What they don't realize is that those drugs can help them prevent major problems from happening later on.