During the month of May the month of awareness of heart failure (IC) is celebrated worldwide. For this reason, from Cardioalianza We launched the “The complete history of heart failure and other related diseases”with the aim of sensitizing and educating both patients and health professionals and society in general on the great impact that this disease exerts, still unknown to many, and make visible its close relationship with other diseases such as diabetes, chronic renal disease, obesity or hypertension. These comorbidities generate a complex clinical panorama that can be difficult to manage for patients.
IC is a clinical syndrome that affects the structure and functioning of the heart, causing it not to pump enough blood flow to meet the oxygen and nutrient needs that the organism needs. This causes the body to not eliminate the natural waste it produces, which generates a fluid accumulation in the lungs and other parts of the body.
It is estimated that IC affects more than 60 million people worldwide and more than 770,000 in our country, with a national prevalence of 1.89% in the adult population and 9.0% in patients over 80 years. In 2023, the IC caused 18,954 deaths in Spain, which represents 4% of total deaths (436,124) and 22% of the total deaths caused by diseases of the circulatory system (115,889). It is positioned, thus, as the third ECV that causes more deaths, only behind the ischemic diseases of the heart and cerebrovascular diseases. In addition, the IC represents an important cost for the health system: it represents 3% of all hospital income and 2% of total health expenditure in Spain.
The IC rarely occurs in isolation, but is often linked to other chronic diseases such as diabetes, chronic kidney disease, obesity or hypertension, which complicates its handling and attention. According to the Spanish Registry Epichron (2019) 98% of patients with IC in Spain have multimorbility, that is, they live with more than one chronic pathology. The most prevalent comorbidities were similar in women and men: hypertension (71.2 % vs. 65.0 %), dyslipidemia (36.9 % vs. 37.6 %), arthropathy (36.8 % vs. 23.9 %), cardiac arrhythmia (35.5 % vs 42.6 %) and diabetes (30.3 % vs. 32.3 %). Except hypertension, which was more frequent in women, cardiovascular comorbidities (that is, ischemic heart disease and arrhythmias), as well as COPD, were more prevalent in men. Artropathy, varicose veins in lower extremities, obesity, osteoporosis, dementia and depression were also highly prevalent in patients with IC, especially in women. Thus, these data show that IC is a systemic disease that affects multiple organic systems.
-Although it is a syndrome that has no cure, an early diagnosis and treatment can improve the quality of life of patients and stop the progression of the disease. Therefore, Cardioaliance promotes the digital campaign “The complete history of heart failure and other related diseases” with the objective of making visible the complex profile of these patients who often live with pluripatologies and showing the relevance of an early diagnosis to guarantee a better prognosis of the disease.
“These comorbidities associated with heart failure are usually chronic and affect both the physical and mental health of the person, directly conditioning their quality of life and survival. Therefore, it is essential that these patients receive comprehensive care from a multidisciplinary team of health professionals,” says Tomás Fajardo, president of Cardioaliance.
The online campaign will take place through the Cardioalianza’s own channels (YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X) from May 5 to 31 under the label #Lahistoriacompleta.
Cardioaliance thus adds to the global awareness campaign of the Global Heart Hub (GHH), the International Alliance of Cardiovascular Patient Organizations, of which it is part. “The campaign underlines the need to adopt integrated care models that coordinate support between different health professionals, an approach that has shown to reduce hospital income and improve long -term results in people with heart failure,” says Aiste Štaraitė, GHH Development Director.
