Heart Failure:
guideline-directed medical therapy and educating on earlier diagnosis can make a difference

Heart failure (HF) usually is a chronic, long-term condition that worsens over time1. It affects nearly 64 million people globally2 and although the outlook varies from case to case approximately half will die within five years of diagnosis3. Despite significant advances in treatment and prevention, people living with HF continue to face unacceptably high rates of hospitalisation and death, along with a progressive, debilitating decline in their capacity for physical activity4-6. These physical symptoms limit patients’ daily activities and can result in poor quality of life7.

At AstraZeneca, we are dedicated to elevating patient voices and experiences, advocating for improvements in the management of HF care.

“I wish I would’ve known about heart disease beforehand. It’s not something people talk about and it’s the number one killer among women.”

Erinpatient living with HF

Why are earlier diagnosis and  the quick adoption of guideline-directed medical therapy important ?

Learn from Erin, who shares her first-hand experience as a patient living with HF, highlighting how an earlier diagnosis may have been helpful to manage her condition.

We also spoke with Helen Yeh, Vice President, Cardiovascular, Renal & Metabolism (CVRM), BioPharmaceuticals Medical, AstraZeneca, who underlines the importance of implementing guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) as soon as possible, given the severity of this chronic disease and the high risk of death, and the key opportunity to proactively use all latest tools available to diagnose HF.

Professor Giuseppe Rosano, Professor of Cardiology and Consultant Cardiologist at St. George's Hospital NHS Trust University of London, emphasizes how the 2021 European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guideline updates have changed the diagnosis and treatment paradigm in acute and chronic HF and some of the barriers that may be hindering the implementation of these updates into practice.

References

  1.   Cleveland Clinic [Internet]. Heart failure; [cited 2022 May 11] Available from: http://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/17069-heart-failure-understanding-heart-failure 
  2.  Vos T, et al. Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 328 diseases and injuries for 195 countries, 1990–2016: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016. Lancet 2017; 390(10100):1211–59.
  3.  Mozaffarian D, et al. Heart disease and stroke statistics—2016 update. Circulation. 2016; 133(4):e38–360.
  4. Savarese G, et al. Global Public Health Burden of Heart Failure. Card Fail Rev. 2017;3(1):7-11.
  5. Mayo Clinic [Internet]. Heart failure; 2021 [cited 2022 May 11]. Available from: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heart-failure/symptoms-causes/syc-20373142.
  6. World Heart Federation. [Internet]. Accelerate Change Together: Heart Failure Gap Review; 2020 [cited 2022 May 11]. Available from: http://world-heart-federation.org/wp-content/uploads/HF-Gap-Review-Final.pdf.
  7. Heo S, et al. “Quality of life in patients with heart failure: ask the patients.” Heart & lung : the journal of critical care vol. 38,2 (2009): 100-8. doi:10.1016/j.hrtlng.2008.04.002

Veeva ID: Z4-44015 

Date of preparation: May 2022

tags

  • Science