2023-06-19 16:32:52
More and more people are suffering from heart failure. And we know far too little about this condition, say doctors, cardiologists and the patient association. “1 in 5 cannot adequately articulate what heart failure is.”
Nearly 240,000 people in the Netherlands are living with a diagnosis of heart failure and, according to the Heart Foundation, this number will increase rapidly due to the aging population: to 342,000 in 2030. In addition, a quarter of a million people have heart failure without knowing it themselves. Heart failure has a worse prognosis than most cancers.
Ignorance
And so we need to know more about it, say general practitioners, cardiologists and the patient association. That is why the ‘Delta Plan Heart Failure’ was launched on 1 May to put heart failure care on the map and improve it.
According to cardiologist Jozine ter Maaten at the UMCG, who is also project leader of the DCVA Delta Plan Heart Failure, there is a lot of ignorance about heart failure. “People walk around with heart failure without knowing it. And it’s really not just old people, but young people too.”
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What is Heart Failure?
Heart failure is a disease, says the Heart Foundation. In heart failure, the heart does not pump blood as well. Organs and muscles then do not receive enough oxygen and nutrients. Blood vessels then become full and fluid leaks out. Complaints that you should pay attention to are shortness of breath, fluid retention and being tired more quickly.
Bron: Hartstichting.nl
Overburdened care
There are differences between the cause of heart failure in men and women. In men it is more likely to be due to a heart attack and in women it can be due to high blood pressure.
According to Ter Maaten, heart failure is a major social problem. “In practice, we see that heart failure is becoming more common, but hospital beds are also full and our healthcare system is overloaded.”
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Asking for attention
And so a delta plan has been drawn up to increase awareness about heart failure. That is still in its infancy. “The Delta Plan means that we pay a lot of attention to heart failure with cardiologists, geriatricians, nurses and patient representatives.”
“We want to make a large overview of what is happening in the country in terms of research and national collaborations, for example, but we are also going to start a public campaign so that people recognize heart failure better and how you can prevent heart failure,” says Ter Maaten.
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Need money
About 55 percent of people with heart failure die within five years. Ter Maaten thinks that the percentage can be significantly reduced with the Delta Plan. “Heart failure is a disease where we can achieve a lot. Research must be done into new medicines, and especially individualization of medicines. Men and women now receive the same dose, it could well be that there should be a difference.”
The cardiologist therefore hopes that money will become available for tackling heart failure. “Heart failure must also be on the map politically.”
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