Living Well: 10 Lifestyle Changes to Consider With Chronic Heart Failure

Making the right lifestyle changes can help manage the symptoms of chronic heart failure, reduce its progression, and improve your daily life significantly. If you have a mild to moderate case of heart failure, some lifestyle changes can help you live an almost normal life.

Doing regular physical exercise can help improve the symptoms of heart failure. Consider getting a rehabilitation program that is exercise-based.

Exercising regularly may also help prevent, delay, or treat other chronic conditions. Consider doing moderate exercises like quick walks for about 150 minutes every week to prevent getting chronic heart failure.

Not getting enough sleep and rest can cause poor management of heart failure. You should sleep for at least seven hours every day — for adults. Getting enough sleep will help manage chronic heart failure and prevent other serious conditions like obesity, diabetes, and depression.

Stress can worsen the symptoms of chronic heart failure. Incorporating activities like yoga and meditation into your lifestyle can help to manage stress. Consider taking a class or two, but talk to your doctor before trying anything strenuous.

Eating healthy can help you manage, delay, or even prevent chronic heart failure and other serious conditions like type 2 diabetes. Foods that are healthy for the heart include whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean meats (like fish or seafood), and low-fat dairy products.

If you have chronic heart failure, avoid wearing tight clothing like socks or stockings that may limit blood flow to your legs. The reduced blood flow may cause the formation of blood clots in the veins. Also, avoid wearing too much or too little clothing to prevent exposure to extreme temperatures.

Smoking tobacco increases blood pressure and heart rate. The smoke causes blood vessels to become sticky and start clumping. Lesser oxygen-rich blood gets into circulation when you smoke. If you have heart failure, quitting tobacco smoking may help you improve the chronic heart failure symptoms.

Quitting, or not starting smoking can also help reduce the risk of getting other serious health conditions like cancer, lung disease, type 2 diabetes, and premature death.

Keeping an eye on your blood pressure at home can help manage high blood pressure. Making a record of your blood pressure readings may help show how your situation is fairing over time.

If you have chronic heart failure, try to monitor your condition and report any changes to your doctor. That will help them manage your condition more effectively.

Drinking alcohol excessively exposes you to the risk of getting conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, some forms of cancers, and liver disease. Reducing the amount of alcohol you drink may reduce your chance of getting those conditions.

If you consume alcohol, consider drinking in moderation. Try reducing the amount you drink to only up to two drinks if you are male, and only one drink in a day if you are female. But if you have chronic heart failure, talk to your doctor to find out if you can take alcohol or not.

The studies on whether caffeine causes or worsens heart disease are conflicting. However, consider taking only about one or two cups of coffee in a day.