Edukacja i jakość życia pacjentów z niewydolnością serca

© Borgis - Medycyna Rodzinna 2/2014, s. 74-80

Agata Szalast, Seweryn Pudełko

Summary
The result of medical advances of the twentieth century was increased life expectancy. Statistics on the increase in the number of patients with heart failure are more and more impressive. The prognosis, despite significant progress, is disadvantageous and, in the advanced stage of the disease, annual death rate exceeds 50%.
Over the past 20 years drugs modifying neurohormonal systems have been introduced into the standards of the treatment of heart failure. The use of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE) is now a widely accepted practice. However, large clinical trials of recent years have reinforced the importance of β-blockers in the treatment of chronic heart failure. Interventional procedures on the coronary arteries have reduced the incidence of ischemic heart failure.
All this does not reduce the epidemic of heart failure, if we do not remove the causes and apply good practice in the asymptomatic and oligosymptomatic stage. Prevention programs are needed for the diseases responsible for the damage to the heart of the vast majority of patients: coronary artery disease hypertension and diabetes.
World experience in the field of prevention programs that underpin preventive cardiology dates back to the mid-twentieth century, when, in the United States, the first of them was created – the Framingham Heart Study. Currently, prevention programs are the most comprehensive source of accurate information about the health of the population. The main objectives pursued by the many prevention programs focused on the following areas:
1. Identifying the main risk factors in the population studies.
2. Lifestyle assessment and the analysis of the factors contributing to the development of chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease.
3. Assessment of morbidity and mortality decrease from cardiovascular diseases or under the influence of modifying or reducing the risk factors.
4. The impact of preventive measures on the health of humanity.

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