heart – mypanoplies

family, health, health & fitness

dealing with Diastolic Dysfunction

Posted on May 1, 2018May 2, 2018 by M Artisans

Diastolic Dysfunction as simplified in previous post – Explaining Diastolic dysfunction in simple terms, is a heart condition when diastole part is not functioning properly.

Before treatment, it must be accurately diagnosed since it has similar symptoms as Systolic Heart Failure.

Treatment – first means a change of lifestyle & medicine (some doctors call it Cardiac Rehab), or an invasive option which is surgery to replace a damaged heart valve. And the following managements should be prescribed and supervised by your cardiologist.

strict control of hypertension
aggressive treatment of coronary artery disease
use of diuretics to control pulmonary congestion
use of vasodilators to make blood vessels open up, increasing in the size of the blood vessels allows more blood to flow through. This lowers the blood pressure and lessens the workload of the heart
use of beta blocker or calcium channel blocker to relax the heart muscle
or an ACE inhibitor to relax blood vessels and lower blood pressure. Helps the heart to pump more blood out to the body.
strict water and salt restriction to prevent congestion
weight control

How to take care of a family with Diastolic Dysfunction?

let them rest, shorten their working hours if possible
help reduce stress – anxiety and anger can increase heart rate and blood pressure. A relaxing and calm environment will help promote a stable heart rate and blood pressure
monitor their blood pressure and heart rate regularly
help them limit their salt intake
remind/give them their medicines on time
assist them to manage their weight and watch out for sudden weight gain that may be a sign of congestion

God bless your heart,

mitch.e

Medical References & Further Readings:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21861070

https://www.texasheart.org/heart-health/heart-information-center/topics/diastolic-dysfunction/

https://www.summitmedicalgroup.com/library/adult_health/car_diastolic_dysfunction/

https://academic.oup.com/bjaed/article/9/1/29/465857

family, health, health & fitness

Explaining Diastolic dysfunction in simple terms

Posted on May 1, 2018May 1, 2018 by M Artisans

This post will try to explain the condition called Diastolic Dysfunction in layman’s term.

First, we have to know the two parts to the pumping action of the heart. You can use the photo below as reference.

1. Diastole – first part, when blood collects in the lower heart chambers (left & right ventricles)

2. Systole – second part happens once the ventricles contract and blood is pushed from the right ventricle to the pulmonary artery and from the left ventricle into the aortic valves.

Diastolic Dysfunction refers to when diastole part is not functioning properly. The heart stiffens and ventricles do not relax so they cannot fill with blood and causes blood to “dam up” in other parts of the body.

Pressure in the ventricles then increases as blood from the next heartbeat tries to enter. This leads to extra pressure and fluid building up in the vessels of the lungs (referred to as pulmonary congestion) or in the vessels that lead back to the heart (referred to as systemic congestion).

Pulmonary congestion – causes fluid to leak from these vessels into the lung alveoli, causing pulmonary edema. This condition clogs oxygenation of blood in the lungs, resulting in shortness of breath and in worst case scenario even death if the condition is not discovered and treated actively.

The systemic congestion – has detrimental effects on other organs in the body such as the kidney and liver, as a result of poor organ perfusion. Swelling and congestion may also occur in the legs and within the abdomen.

Causes and Symptoms:

The major causes of Diastolic Dysfunction –

Obesity and unhealthy lifestyle
High blood pressure
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (the walls of the heart become thick and stiff)
Aortic stenosis (narrowing in one of the heart valves)
Coronary artery disease
Restrictive cardiomyopathy (scars or deposits that make the heart muscle stiff)
Aging

Symptoms can be from nothing to shortness of breath or labored breathing, unusual swelling of the legs/feet, and fast or irregular heart beat.

If you manifest the above symptoms and a family history of heart disease, consult a trusted Cardiologist and the following tests will help diagnose if you have Diastolic Dysfunction.

Chest X-ray
Echocardiogram (ECG)
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

God bless your heart,

mitch.e

Medical references and for Further reading:

https://www.summitmedicalgroup.com/library/adult_health/car_diastolic_dysfunction/

https://academic.oup.com/cardiovascres/article/45/4/813/299300

https://www.news-medical.net/health/Diastolic-Dysfunction-Causes.aspx

https://www.healio.com/cardiology/learn-the-heart/cardiology-review/topic-reviews/diastolic-dysfunction

poem, Uncategorized

I carry your heart with me…

Posted on February 14, 2016March 3, 2016 by M Artisans

I carry your heart with me.

by E.E. Cummings

I carry your heart with me. I carry it in my heart.

I am never without it, anywhere I go you go, my dear;

and whatever is done by only me is your doing, my darling.

I fear no fate, for you are my fate, my sweet.

I want no world, for beautiful you are my world, my true.

and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant,

and whatever a sun will always sing is you.

Here is the deepest secret nobody knows

here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows higher

than the soul can hope or mind can hide.

and this is the wonder that is keeping the stars apart.

Diastolic Dysfunction as simplified in previous post – Explaining Diastolic dysfunction in simple terms, is a heart condition when diastole part is not functioning properly.

Before treatment, it must be accurately diagnosed since it has similar symptoms as Systolic Heart Failure.

Treatment – first means a change of lifestyle & medicine (some doctors call it Cardiac Rehab), or an invasive option which is surgery to replace a damaged heart valve. And the following managements should be prescribed and supervised by your cardiologist.

strict control of hypertension

aggressive treatment of coronary artery disease

use of diuretics to control pulmonary congestion

use of vasodilators to make blood vessels open up, increasing in the size of the blood vessels allows more blood to flow through. This lowers the blood pressure and lessens the workload of the heart

use of beta blocker or calcium channel blocker to relax the heart muscle

or an ACE inhibitor to relax blood vessels and lower blood pressure. Helps the heart to pump more blood out to the body.

strict water and salt restriction to prevent congestion

weight control

How to take care of a family with Diastolic Dysfunction?

let them rest, shorten their working hours if possible

help reduce stress – anxiety and anger can increase heart rate and blood pressure. A relaxing and calm environment will help promote a stable heart rate and blood pressure

monitor their blood pressure and heart rate regularly

help them limit their salt intake

remind/give them their medicines on time

assist them to manage their weight and watch out for sudden weight gain that may be a sign of congestion

God bless your heart,

mitch.e

Share this:

Like this:

This post will try to explain the condition called Diastolic Dysfunction in layman’s term.

First, we have to know the two parts to the pumping action of the heart. You can use the photo below as reference.

1. Diastole – first part, when blood collects in the lower heart chambers (left & right ventricles)

2. Systole – second part happens once the ventricles contract and blood is pushed from the right ventricle to the pulmonary artery and from the left ventricle into the aortic valves.

Diastolic Dysfunction refers to when diastole part is not functioning properly. The heart stiffens and ventricles do not relax so they cannot fill with blood and causes blood to “dam up” in other parts of the body.

Pressure in the ventricles then increases as blood from the next heartbeat tries to enter. This leads to extra pressure and fluid building up in the vessels of the lungs (referred to as pulmonary congestion) or in the vessels that lead back to the heart (referred to as systemic congestion).

Pulmonary congestion – causes fluid to leak from these vessels into the lung alveoli, causing pulmonary edema. This condition clogs oxygenation of blood in the lungs, resulting in shortness of breath and in worst case scenario even death if the condition is not discovered and treated actively.

The systemic congestion – has detrimental effects on other organs in the body such as the kidney and liver, as a result of poor organ perfusion. Swelling and congestion may also occur in the legs and within the abdomen.

Causes and Symptoms:

The major causes of Diastolic Dysfunction –

Obesity and unhealthy lifestyle

High blood pressure

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (the walls of the heart become thick and stiff)

Aortic stenosis (narrowing in one of the heart valves)

Coronary artery disease

Restrictive cardiomyopathy (scars or deposits that make the heart muscle stiff)

Aging

Symptoms can be from nothing to shortness of breath or labored breathing, unusual swelling of the legs/feet, and fast or irregular heart beat.

If you manifest the above symptoms and a family history of heart disease, consult a trusted Cardiologist and the following tests will help diagnose if you have Diastolic Dysfunction.

Chest X-ray

Echocardiogram (ECG)

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

God bless your heart,

mitch.e

Share this:

Like this:

I carry your heart with me.

I carry your heart with me. I carry it in my heart.

I carry your heart, I carry it in my heart…

Share this:

Like this: