The heart is the only organ in your body that never rests in your entire life. It pumps blood and oxygen all over the body as your heart beats.

The human heart beats an average of over three billion beats in our lifetime.

What if the heart decides to take a rest like other organs? What if it is no longer able to beat as it always does?

Yes! That is exactly what is called heart failure.

We must prepare ourselves to protect our hearts. Here are some ways to prevent triggers of heart failure.

Karetrip guides you through steps and methods to ensure a healthy heart and a better life for you.

What is Heart Failure?

As we mentioned earlier, heart failure, also known as ‘congestive heart failure’ is a chronic condition where the heart stops pumping blood as it should.

When this happens, blood often backs up and builds up fluid in lungs, causing shortness of breath.

Certain heart conditions, like narrow arteries and high blood pressure, reduce the potential of the heart to pump blood properly. Heart failures can be severe and life threatening.

Proper treatment and changes in lifestyle may help people live a long and better life.

7 Ways to Avoid Triggers for Sudden Heart Failure

1. Managing Healthy Weight

There is a paradox in heart disease called the ‘obesity paradox’. It suggests that obese people are at greater risk of developing heart disease, But those people are more likely to do better and less likely to die than ones with normal weight.

There are various explanations for this paradox, but the fact is that obesity leads to heart disease. So it is important to manage weight.

Regular exercise and heart- healthy balanced diet would do the trick.

2. Regular Exercise

Exercise may heal the heart as well as prevent future problems. Exercise can be any physical activity in any form of movement. Walking, running, yoga, swimming are all good activities that help in keeping the body active.

Physical activities can be anywhere from moderate to vigorous. While moderate exercise is enough for keeping your body fit and functioning properly, the more active you are the better.

Experts say if you’re already healthy, exercise supplements it, but exercise can also help you lose weight, decrease damaging inflammation inside your body, reduce insulin resistance, and improve your blood flow. All these can reduce cardiac stiffness.

Aerobic activities strengthen your heart. It reduces the risk of sudden heart failures. Consult your medical professional for safe levels of exercise for people with chronic diseases.

3. Follow a Heart - Healthy Diet

Keeping your diet healthy with low salt, fat, and cholesterol levels is the key to preventing Heart failure.

The DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) clearly distinguishes between foods to eat and foods to avoid to prevent triggers to sudden Heart Failure.

The heart - healthy diet includes:

- Vegetables : Green leafy (such as spinach, collard greens, kale, cabbage), broccoli and carrots - Fruits : apples, berries, citrus fruits, bananas, prunes etc. - Whole grains : plain oatmeal, brown rice and whole grains breads - Fat-free or low-fat dairy : Reduced fat milk, cheese and yoghourt are better options for heart - healthy diets, while butter,and ice- cream are not. - Protein rich food : Fish, lean meat, eggs, nuts, seeds, soy products, legumes all contribute to heart - healthy diet - Oils and foods high in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats

4. Control Hypertension

Hypertension is a major risk for heart failure. High blood pressure increases the need for our heart to work harder to meet the demands and needs of our body.

This strains our heart causing the left ventricle (lower left chamber of the heart) to thicken and enlarge. Over time these weakened or stiff muscles lead to heart failures.

**Is Hypertensive Heart Failure Reversible? **

It depends on the person’s medical history and severity of the disease. In some cases lifestyle changes can lower the blood pressure.

Lifestyle plays a vital role in treating high blood pressure. It has a significant effect in delaying, reducing, even preventing the need for medication.

5. Limit Alcohol and Smoking

• Smoking and the consumption of alcohol cause a large number of diseases and deaths.

• They lead to weakened muscle worsening conditions related to heart failures.

• Smoking narrows the blood vessels in the body. The chemicals in the smoking also cause blood clots inside the blood vessels. Thus the flow of blood and oxygen are inhibited. This leads to worsened heart failures.

• Quitting smoking and tobacco products reduces your chances of getting heart failures and other circulatory diseases.

• Alcohol is directly linked with hypertension. More than recommended limits increase your chances of heart failures and other serious health issues.

• Some studies showed that moderate drinking is more beneficial than heavy drinking and abstinence from drinking. But Research presented at Heart Failure 2022 implies that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption for heart failures.

• To minimise the risk of alcohol causing harm to the heart, if you don’t drink, don’t start. If you do drink, limit your weekly consumption to less than one bottle of wine or less than three-and-a-half 500 ml cans of 4.5% beer.

6. Monitor and Manage Diabetes

Need another reason to manage diabetes? Managing diabetes can reduce the risk of heart failures. Having a A1C of more than 7% increases the chances and early onset of heart failures.

Heart failure can drastically affect the quality of one’s life and lifespan. By managing diabetes we can prevent the number of people advancing to later stages of heart failures.

7.Regular Medical Checkups and Avoiding Over the Counter Medications

One of the best ways to reduce your risk of heart failure is by regular checkups. Routine checkups and screening helps you detect warnings from the heart before it becomes complicated.

Medical professionals can also help you avoid over the counter medications. Some medication for cough and cold contain stimulants, which triggers rapid, uneven heartbeats. Or some common anti inflammatories like ibuprofen can worsen heart failures.

Make sure to share your medical history before administering any kind of medication. It is highly recommended for chronic patients to always carry their medical history for emergencies.

Safeguarding our heart against sudden heart failures is very simple. Lifestyle changes can help you prevent sudden heart failure.

A heart-healthy diet, exercise, a good night sleep and managed stress can help you reduce your risk of heart failure.

Smoking, Alcohol, hypertension and diabetes are all triggers to heart failure. If possible, avoid smoking and alcohol and manage hypertension and diabetes effectively.

Taking a step towards protecting your heart is not just about avoiding disease. It can alleviate your symptoms, slow down your disease progression and assure you a better quality of life.