Congestive Heart Failure

Heart Failure is a complex disease with a high mortality, very costly, and is associated with ruining the quality of life. Heart failure is a serious condition. About 5 million people in the U.S. have heart failure. It contributes to 300,000 deaths each year.

The most significant costs are associated with hospitalizations which occur when the heart no longer can compensate, and the patient becomes symptomatic. The symptoms are usually due to the excess fluid which is accumulating all over the body, as the heart’s effectiveness falters. The excess fluid causes edema in the lower extremities, shortness of breath, and extreme fatigue. The patient’s hospitalized treatment consists of many expensive procedures and drugs to get the heart back into a functioning state, and reduce symptoms. The patient is then discharged, ready to repeat this process all over again, probably in the near future. Heart failure (HF) is the number one reason for hospitalization in people over the age of 65 years old.

The New England of Journal recently published a scathing report on the adverse cardiovascular effects of Avandia. Avandia has been used since 1999 to treat diabetes II, and was approved by the FDA with the knowledge that minimal cardiovascular effects existed, but not more than with any other diabetic drug which existed. However, the risk for people with congestive heart failure was slightly higher.