HEART FAILURE

Heart Failure.

Stem cell treatment.

Cardiovascular diseases represent the leading cause of death in the world and due to these statistics and the fact that they appear in many cases in advance of heart failure, stem cell treatment studies have given immediate importance to their control. According to WHO data, for the year 2012, it is estimated that 17.5 million people died from these conditions; this represents 31% of deaths worldwide.

Novastem has treatments to treat heart failure effectively, more information on how we can help you, schedule an appointment with one of our specialists.

What is heart failure?

Heart Failure (HF) is a chronic and degenerative disease of the heart that prevents the heart from having sufficient capacity to pump blood and therefore to deliver enough oxygen and nutrients to the rest of the organs. It can occur at any age, although the likelihood of developing it increases with age.

Heart failure can occur at any age, but its frequency clearly increases with advancing age. About 1% of people under 65 years of age have heart failure, but 7% of people between 75 and 84 years of age have heart failure, rising to 15% in people over 85 years of age. This is the most frequent cause of hospitalization in people over 65 years of age.

Although it is called “heart failure”, it does not mean that the heart is about to stop working. Instead, it means that the heart is having difficulty meeting the body’s needs (especially during times of activity).

If you have already been diagnosed with heart failure you should consider opting for treatment at Novastem, for more information on how we can help you, schedule an appointment with one of our specialists.

Causes of heart failure

Heart failure occurs when there is a disorder of the heart muscle, when the heart is subjected to an excessive load or when there is a combination of these two factors.

The disorders that most frequently lead to heart failure include ischemic heart disease (myocardial infarction), arterial hypertension, cardiomyopathies, valvular diseases, some congenital heart diseases and, more rarely, diseases of the pericardium.

Less frequently, heart failure is due to extracardiac disorders, such as hyperthyroidism or severe anemia.

What are the symptoms of heart failure?

The main symptoms caused by heart failure are those derived from:

  • A decrease in oxygen delivery to the tissues, due to a decrease in cardiac output.
  • Compensatory mechanisms, which tend to increase intravascular pressures and cause symptoms of congestion.

The universal symptom of heart failure is dyspnea or “shortness of breath”, which becomes apparent during physical exercise or, in more severe cases, at rest (dyspnea at rest), with the decubitus position (orthopnea) or abruptly at night (paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea).

Other symptoms highly suggestive of heart failure, in this case right heart failure, are edema in declining parts (exaggerated swelling in the ankles and/or pretibial region) and the sensation of abdominal swelling (hepatomegaly or ascites).

The most common symptoms are:

  • Shortness of breath (dyspnea).
  • Dyspnea at rest and at the ulna (orthopnea).
  • Choking sensation that worsens at night (paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea).
  • Swelling of the ankles (edema).
  • Fatigue.

Conventional treatment of heart failure.

The main goals of treatment of patients with heart failure (HF) are: 

  • Reduce mortality
  • To avoid relapses and readmissions
  • Prevent disease progression
  • Suppression or minimization of symptoms
  • Improve functional capacity and quality of life

An essential aspect is to detect potentially reversible precipitating or aggravating factors, which often trigger the clinical symptoms of HF.

When planning the therapeutic strategy in HF, we must consider several aspects:

  • Non-pharmacological treatment.
  • Pharmacological treatment.
  • Surgical treatment and treatment with medical devices.
  • Treatment of comorbidities and specific entities.
  • Recommendations in the terminal phase of the disease.

One aspect that will condition the therapeutic approach is the pathophysiological form of HF.

The differences will lie in pharmacological and surgical treatment or treatment with medical devices, whereas the aspects of non-pharmacological treatment, treatment of comorbidities and recommendations for the terminal phase of the disease are applicable to both forms of HF.

Stem cell therapy for heart failure patients

It has long been believed that the heart is an organ incapable of renewal, however, but there are now experimental studies that change this concept and suggest that the myocardium is capable of regeneration, and this appears to be the responsibility of extracardiac stem cells, which may come from bone marrow.

Stem cell treatment is an alternative to regenerate these damaged tissues, and for this reason it is one of the most promising areas in the treatment of diseases with little or no chance of cure. One of the diseases that can benefit most from this strategy is heart failure. The aim of this therapy is to regenerate muscle, reduce apoptosis, increase interstitial collagen expression and induce the generation of new vessels.

It is important to offer new treatment alternatives to these patients, which are increasing every day, bringing repercussions in the health systems and in the quality of life of these people.

For more information on how we can help you, schedule an appointment with one of our specialists.

Novastem. A clinic of competence in stem cell treatment.

Over the years, numerous attempts have been made to discover medical and non-medical treatment options for this condition. In some cases, medical treatments have led to increased survival and improved quality of life, and options for non-medical therapies have emerged. 

Novastem’s goal with our treatments is to reverse the lack of functionality, eliminating pain and allowing you to enjoy 100% of daily activities and life again.

At Novastem we use mesenchymal stem cells derived from bone marrow. The application of the treatment is intravenous, never directly to the heart muscle. 

Novastem has the strictest acceptance protocols to treat a patient, we perform laboratory studies before each therapy.

 

For more information on how we can help you, schedule an appointment with one of our specialists

Learn more about the scientific basis of our work at Novastem here.


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