Ejection fraction heart failure

What is ejection fraction heart failure?
Ejection fraction heart failure it is a term used to describe the amount of blood that heart can deliver to the main arteries. In medical practice, doctors measure the ejection fraction heart failure because this examination offers details about heart function and helps to determine if  there is a heart failure or not. Once the heart function is impaired, the ejection fraction begins to diminish and the systemic consequences of heart failure begin to occur. In early stages, the body will try to compensate the changes appeared due to heart function decrease, but in time these will become obviously.
What are the signs of ejection fraction heart failure?

When you are suffering from heart failure it is important to recognize the problem and look for a doctor as soon as possible, only in this way you can receive the correct treatment which will help the heart to function better and delay farther deterioration. At the beginning, people with diminished ejection fraction heart failure will feel more and more tired, but usually this symptom is wrongly associated with getting old, gaining weight, anemia or simply overlooked. Many people will find it is normal to feel tired during effort, without noticing that a few months ago they were able to perform the same effort without getting tired. Only when tiredness is getting worse and they have to deal it in common daily activities like walking, they begin to feel is something wrong and look for medical help, but in that moment their ejection fraction heart failure is already diminished. There are a lot of people living with diminished ejection fraction heart failure without knowing about this until they have routine medical examination or until symptoms get worse. In time, tiredness is accompanied by shortness of breath, blue coloring of lips, hands, feet, legs begin to swallow due to edema. It is important to report these symptoms to your doctor, because this will help him suspect your heart is not working normally. Diagnosing heart failure is not the last step before patients can start taking medication, it is also very important to find the cause for ejection fraction heart failure deterioration: is it a heart attack, a heart valves pathology, infections of heart walls, ischemia (heart cells don’t receive enough oxygen) ? etc.

Is there any treatment for diminished ejection fraction heart failure?

There are many drugs available that can help heart function better, but there is no cure for this, once the heart failure occurs, heart function and ejection fraction will deteriorate in time. What we can achieve by medication is to delay the progress of heart function impairment, ameliorate symptoms and increase the quality of life. One mistake made by many patients is to think that once they take the prescribed medication, their heart will continue to function normally from that point on, forgetting to fallow a correct diet, without salt and fats, continuing to drink alcohol, smoke, gain weight,  etc.

In patients diagnosed with heart failure, periodically heart function evaluation is very important and one examination that can offer information about the evolution of heart function is ejection fraction heart failure.

Heart palpitations at night

Why do we have heart palpitations at night?

Before we discuss the matter of heart palpitations at night, we have to clarify the meaning of the word “palpitation” in general. Palpitations refer to irregular heart beats, usually the heart beats to fast, or with pauses from time to time and gives us an abnormal sensation, sometimes associated with dizziness, light-headed sensation, shortness of breath, chest pain etc.
We all had palpitation at least once in our life, and this doesn’t mean we have a heart disease, because these symptoms occur in healthy people during exercise or associated to stress, smoking, coffee. Even so, if the palpitation persist or are associated with shortness of breath, chest pain, fainting, dizziness, a doctor should be consulted as soon as possible.
Some patients complain they have heart palpitations at night, which prevent them from falling asleep or wake them up in the middle of the night.

Heart palpitations at night -causes:

Normal heart rate for an adult is 60-90 beats/minute. If the heart rate is higher the 90 beats per minute, then the condition is called tachycardia and can provoke palpitation. Not only rapid heart rate can cause palpitation but also irregular heart beats, known as arrhythmia, which is the main cause behind palpitation. Why some patients experience heart palpitations at night, during rest, when heart labor is smaller?
Heart palpitations at night can be determined by one of the following cause:

• too much stress and anxiety gathered during the daytime. It is a habit now that every time we go to sleep, we think again at the daily problems and try to find a solution, as it is said night is a good adviser. If your mind is concerned about certain problems happening in your life, you may be lying down and think about it over and over again, but the emotions and the psychical tension can generate palpitation.
• excessive consumption of caffeine before sleeping can generate insomnia and palpitation, if you drink a lot of coffee, especially before sleeping, you may consider giving up.
• smoking
• alcohol consumption
• medication-some drugs used to treat different diseases (like asthma, heart diseases, high blood pressure, cold) can determine palpitation: pseudoephedrine used in cold medication, theophylline for asthma etc.
• pregnancy
• fever-it is well known that body temperature elevation is associated with rapid heart beats and sometimes with palpitations
• vigorous exercise before sleeping
• breathing problems determined by lung diseases determine a low level of oxygen in the body, which can lead to heart palpitations at night
• heart problem-patients with heart failure may develop paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea (shortness of breath that occurs suddenly during night in patient with left heart failure) and palpitations, forcing them to wake up and search for an open window to get fresh air
• hyperthyroidism (a higher level of thyroid hormones can determine irregular or rapid heart beats)
• elevated blood pressure

If I have heart palpitations at night-how can my doctor discover if there is something wrong in my body?
Yes it is possible. For patients that have these symptoms only during night it is difficult to  diagnose them during a simple medical visit, but if a special device called holter ecg is used, then this is no longer a problem. Holter ECG is a portable medical device that the patient “wears” for 24 hours and it records heart activity during this period of time.
Heart palpitations at night-treatment
Heart palpitations at night can be treated only after proper tests are made in order to establish the correct diagnosis. In many cases, palpitations have no serious cause and a short time treatment associated with a life style change can be the “cure”.
Special precaution in patients with heart palpitations at night:

• avoid consumption of alcohol, coffee, drugs (marijuana, cocaine) or smoking
• avoid stress and anxiety-there are many types of techniques used against anxiety (psychotherapy, sports, taking vacation, travelling etc.)
• sometimes medication is needed in order to control anxiety
• respect your hours of sleep
• avoid if possible the intake of medication that stimulate palpitations

Heart palpitations at night can be very uncomfortable, but sometimes a simple change in the  daily habits can make them disappear.