Treating the cause Your immediate focus is to help improve Ms. Martin's functional capacity. You'll administer drug therapy and supplemental oxygen, provide rest, and restrict her sodium intake. Drug therapy helps control the signs and symptoms and prevent HF progression. To help her decrease the heart's workload, ask a dietitian to teach her how to cut calories and maintain good nutrition. Her physician may ultimately recommend 30 to 45 minutes of aerobic exercise three to four times a week to help her feel better.
Sodium causes fluid retention, and fat increases the risk of heart disease.
Teach her to eat low-fat, unprocessed, unsalted foods, and encourage her to read labels. Cigarette smoking decreases circulating oxygen and constricts coronary arteries, decreasing the heart's oxygen supply. It also causes systemic vasoconstriction, which increases the heart's workload. Alcohol depresses myocardial contractility in patients with cardiac disease. A patient with HF who wants to continue drinking should limit consumption to 1 ounce of alcohol per day.