Heart Failure Research Paper

Heart Failure is a disease state caused by a dysfunction or structural deviation in the cardiac system that inhibits the heart’s ventricles from filling and ejecting blood in its fullest capacity. When the heart’s ability to effectively pump blood decreases it lacks the ability to meet the need for blood in all other areas of the body. 1-3 Heart failure is considered a progressive condition that originates from a cardiovascular event that damages the function of the heart to contract and relax.1 This results in a decrease in cardiac output which leads to various types of compensation mechanisms such as tachycardia, increased preload, vasoconstriction, and ventricular hypertrophy and remodeling. There are currently about 5.1 million people in
Where I is no symptoms, II is mild symptoms with activity, III is limitation with activity, and IV is limitation in activity and at rest.3 There are also four stages of heart failure ranging from A to D, used by health care professionals, where A indicates a high risk for heart failure development but no signs or symptoms, B indicates heart disease without signs and symptoms, C indicates heart disease with signs and symptoms, and D indicates refractory heart failure that includes signs and symptoms at rest or without exertion and require specialized treatment.1-3 Each stage has different therapeutic recommendations with moderate overlap. For each stage it is recommend to stop smoking, get regular exercise, and limit sodium intake to 1500mg per day. The treatment for Stage A heart failure depends mostly on the other health conditions the patient has.1 Common risk factors include, coronary heart disease, smoking cigarettes, hypertension, obesity, diabetes, dyslipidemia,and valvular heart disease. 1,2 The best way to aid in the progression of heart failure is to treat the co-morbidities. 1 Many patients will be on anti-hypertensives to control their blood pressure and statins to control their high cholesterol. If patients have multiple risk factors relating to their cardiovascular system, they will be put on ACE inhibitors or ARBs to prevent the progression of their heart
The study was double-blinded and placebo controlled. The patients were classified as having class II heart failure, where patient’s experience signs and symptoms of physical activity, at least 55 years of age, having an ejection fraction under 30%, being treated with an ACE or ARB as well as a beta-blocker, and a recent hospitalization. Patients with acute MI, classified as class III and IV heart failure patients, having a serum potassium level of over 5 mmol/L, or having a GFR under 30 mL were excluded from the study. There were 1,364 patients in the study group who received Eplerenone and 1,373 patients in the placebo group. Patients who were assigned to the study group were initially started on Eplerenone 25 mg daily and then titrated up to 50 mg daily after 4 weeks. The primary study measure outcome was death from cardiovascular causes or hospitalization for heart failure. There were several secondary outcomes including, but not limited to: death from any cause or hospitalization for any reason, hospitalization for cardiovascular causes, hospitalization for any reason, etc. This study utilized a two-sample t-test for variables that were considered continuous and a Fisher’s test for variables