Expert Congestive Heart Failure Treatment in Northern California
Congestive heart failure (CHF) can cause a number of symptoms that interfere with your daily activities, including shortness of breath and fatigue. Treatment for CHF aims to reduce symptoms, improve your quality of life, and keep the condition from getting worse.
Find a Doctor at Dignity Health North State to talk about your heart symptoms and discuss benefits of our personalized congestive heart failure treatment in Northern California.
Treating Congestive Heart Failure at Dignity Health North State
Your doctor will discuss a number of lifestyle changes as a starting point for your treatment. You may need to tightly control the amount of fluid you consume, and cut back on the use of salt in your diet. Your doctor may set a limit for how many fluid ounces you can drink daily.
Aside from dietary restriction, your Dignity Health North State doctor may also recommend treatments to ease your symptoms of heart failure and lower your heart’s workload.
Common treatments for congestive heart failure include:
- Medications or surgery for underlying conditions, such as hypertension, coronary artery disease, or diabetes
- Medications to reduce the workload on your heart
- Inhaled medications to help your breathing
- Home oxygen therapy
- Smoking cessation
- Lifestyle changes, such as adopting a low-sodium diet and restricting fluid consumption
Managing Your Treatment
Your age, overall health, the severity of your condition, and your personal preferences will guide your doctor’s treatment recommendations. It is not uncommon for a combination of therapies — such as lifestyle modifications combined with medications — to be used in controlling congestive heart failure. Be sure to talk to your Dignity Health North State cardiologist about the risks, benefits, and likely outcomes of all available treatment options.
Can You Prevent Congestive Heart Failure?
You can certainly take steps to prevent congestive heart failure. However, not all cases of CHF are preventable. For example, no preventative measures can stop heart failure caused by heart valve disease arising from normal aging processes.
Still, you can reduce your chances of developing congestive heart failure by:
- Not smoking
- Maintaining a healthy weight (obesity puts added strain on your heart)
- Exercising regularly
- Eating a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids and low in sodium
- Treating known heart conditions, such as high blood pressure
- Avoiding excessive alcohol consumption
- Not taking illicit drugs, which can damage your heart
If you need help quitting smoking, ask your doctor about our Quit for Good smoking cessation program at Mercy Medical Center Redding.
Our cardiac care team is always available to answer questions about your heart with warmth, respect, and compassion. Learn more about heart care at our Northern California hospitals:
Dignity Health North State provides advanced treatments, including congestive heart failure treatments, in Mt. Shasta, Red Bluff, and Redding, CA.