Impulse Dynamics applications

Providers sometimes can correct heart failure by treating the underlying cause. For example, repairing a heart valve or controlling a fast heart rhythm may reverse heart failure. But for most patients, heart failure is a chronic disease needing lifelong management. Nowadays, with appropriate treatment, signs and symptoms of heart failure can improve, and the heart can sometimes even regain strength. For many patients, the treatment of heart failure involves a balance of being prescribed the right medications, but now the use of devices that help the heart contract properly and beat more regularly are available as well.

Heart Failure may start suddenly, and you may feel symptoms immediately, or it may start slowly and progress unnoticed for some time. Some patients do not realize that they have heart failure because they believe that their symptoms are just indications of getting older. The condition typically starts after there is some sort of injury to the heart muscle (e.g. a heart attack), and over time, the unusual stresses placed on the heart muscle cause the disease to progressively worsen.

Once medications lose effectiveness and symptoms begin to reappear, you may experience declining quality of life. At this point your provider may consider a device called Optimizer® Smart that is designed to improve contraction of the heart, allowing more oxygen-rich blood to reach the body. The Optimizer® Smart system delivers Cardiac Contractility Modulation therapy which is a new therapeutic approach that improves quality of life for patients that are no longer adequately responding to medications intended to manage symptoms or slow the progression of heart failure. Extensive studies evaluating the FDA-approved therapy, and over 1,000 patients already living with Optimizer® Smart devices have demonstrated the device is safe and is proven to improve quality of life for suitable patients.

In the most advanced stages of heart failure, in some cases, doctors recommend surgery to treat the disease. Heart Transplant & Ventricular Assist Devices are included in this category. These therapies are often a last option for patients with the most severe forms of heart failure.

The diagnosis of heart failure typically starts when a patient talks to their caregiver about the signs and symptoms  they are experiencing. Their health care provider may ask questions designed to confirm the causes of heart failure that may be in their medical history as well.

Heart failure is a disease with many stages. The onset may be rapid, or it may progress more gradually. But once heart failure starts; it usually becomes a lifelong disease that patients have to learn to live with. Living with heart failure can be easier once you understand the symptoms and can communicate with your health care providers to make sure you are receiving the right care.