Importance of a Healthy Diet for People with Congestive Heart Failure
Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a chronic disease when the heart does not pump blood as well as it should. It is commonly caused by high levels of cholesterol that causes coronary artery disease. Some of the symptoms of CHF include shortness of breath, rapid heartbeat, swollen legs, and fatigue. It is important for a person suffering from this chronic disease to maintain a healthy diet. Too much intake of salt is one the causes of CHF (Wawrzeńczyk et al, 2019). Avoiding salty food helps reduce the amount of water contents in the body and allows the heart not to work harder for circulation to take place. Also, people with CHF condition should avoid food with high fibres and cholesterol. Instead, they should take fresh fruits and vegetables to prevent high cholesterol in the body, hence reducing the risk of death or attack.
Strategy to ensure that CHF Patients follow a Diet
Even though people suffering from CHF are expected to keep up with a diet, some are not able to keep up with one. As a healthcare provider, the best strategy that I would consider the best is to encourage adherence to diuretic for a patient with CHF is scheduling special appointments. Sometimes, schedules are made on busy days, and it is difficult for healthcare providers to interact with the patients. A healthcare provider has only few minutes with their patients before seeing the next patient due to the large queue of patients that awaits them (Packer & Metra. 2020). With the few minutes a patient has with their healthcare providers are not enough for an efficient interaction. It also not possible to change a diet in case the patient feels the diet is not affordable, an alternative to certain type of food. If frequent appointments are scheduled, there will be free time to interact with the patients.
References
Packer, M., & Metra, M. (2020). Guideline‐directed medical therapy for heart failure does not exist: A non‐judgmental framework for describing the level of adherence to evidence‐based drug treatments for patients with a reduced ejection fraction. European Journal of Heart Failure, 22(10), 1759-1767. Web.
Wawrzeńczyk, A., Anaszewicz, M., Wawrzeńczyk, A., & Budzyński, J. (2019). Clinical significance of nutritional status in patients with chronic heart failure—A systematic review. Heart Failure Reviews, 24(5), 671-700. Web.