{"id":2989,"date":"2021-05-10T11:00:30","date_gmt":"2021-05-10T10:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/?p=2989"},"modified":"2021-07-23T09:48:55","modified_gmt":"2021-07-23T08:48:55","slug":"heart-failure-matters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/2021\/05\/10\/heart-failure-matters\/","title":{"rendered":"Heart Failure Matters"},"content":{"rendered":"

Khalid Ali, film, and media correspondent reports on the British Society for Heart Failure \u2018F Campaign\u2019 Raising Awareness about Heart Failure in the UK<\/strong><\/p>\n

Heart failure (HF) is an insidious condition characterised by symptoms of F<\/strong>ighting for breath, F<\/strong>atigue and F<\/strong>luid build-up, most noticeable in the ankles. There are approximately 1 million people with heart failure in the UK<\/a> and a further 200,000 people are newly diagnosed each year. For half of those with the condition, heart failure is a terminal illness with death occurring within 2-5 years of diagnosis.<\/p>\n

For many heart failure patients, there are significant delays in its diagnosis reaching up to 12 months. The risk of death from heart failure is higher than that for some of the most common cancers and should be treated with the same urgency. There is a real concern over the direct and indirect impact of the CoViD-19 pandemic such as an increase in the number of heart failure patients and those yet to be diagnosed<\/a> over the coming months and years.<\/p>\n

There is a significant \u2018health literacy\u2019 problem around heart failure knowledge amongst the public; when asked about the definition of HF from a list of definitions of multiple cardiovascular diseases, over half (55%) of the public were unable to do so<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, whilst heart failure remains a burdensome, debilitating condition, and its prognosis being poor without intervention, with appropriate management, it is possible for people to live well with heart failure. Clinical outcomes can be dramatically improved through earlier diagnosis and treatment with guideline recommended therapies<\/a>. <\/strong><\/p>\n

The British Society for Heart Failure (BSH) have embarked on a nation-wide awareness programme \u2018Freedom from Failure – The F Word\u2019 campaign <\/em>to empower people with knowledge about heart failure. The campaign is intended to:<\/p>\n