Heart failure therapy: beyond the guidelines.
Heart failure is a chronic and debilitating disease responsible for high cardiac morbidity and mortality in the world and is associated with over 290 000 deaths in the United States each year. This article reviews palliative care and self-care, which are critical components of heart failure management that are inadequately defined in the current American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Heart Failure. Palliative care describes a multidisciplinary approach to the treatment of heart failure therapy that addresses both the symptomatic and psychosocial aspects of the disease. Self-care aims to maintain disease stability and prevent clinical decline through a variety of patient-based behavioral and lifestyle modifications.
Thompson
Keith A
KA
Cedars Sinai Heart Institute, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, 8700 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA.
Bharadwaj
Parag
P
Philip
Kiran J
KJ
Schwarz
Ernst R
ER
D015438:Health Behavior; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000592:standards; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000592:standards; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D040242:Risk Reduction Behavior; D012648:Self Care / Q000592:standards; D016896:Treatment Outcome