HEART FAILURE - Topic Overview

What is heart failure?

Heart failure means that your heart muscle doesn't pump as much blood as your body needs. Failure doesn't mean that your heart has stopped. It means that your heart is not pumping as well as it should.

Because your heart cannot pump well, your body tries to make up for it. To do this:

• Your body holds on to salt and water. This increases the amount of blood in your bloodstream.
• Your heart beats faster.
• Your heart gets bigger .

Your body has an amazing ability to make up for heart failure. It may do such a good job that you don't know you have a disease. But at some point, your heart and body will no longer be able to keep up. Then fluid starts to build up in your body, and you have symptoms like feeling weak and out of breath.

This fluid buildup is called congestion. It's why some doctors call the disease congestive heart failure.

Heart failure usually gets worse over time. But treatment can slow the disease and help you feel better and live longer.

What causes heart failure?

Anything that damages your heart or affects how well it pumps can lead to heart failure. Common causes of heart failure are:

• High blood pressure.
• Heart attack.
• Coronary artery disease.

Other conditions that can lead to heart failure include:

• Diabetes.
• Diseases of the heart muscle (cardiomyopathies).
• Heart valve disease.
• Disease of the sac around the heart (pericardial disease), such as pericarditis.
• A slow, fast, or uneven heart rhythm (arrhythmia).
• A heart problem that you were born with (congenital heart defect).
• Long-term alcohol abuse, which can damage your heart.

What are the symptoms?

Symptoms of heart failure start to happen when your heart cannot pump enough blood to the rest of your body. In the early stages, you may:

• Feel tired easily.
• Be short of breath when you exert yourself.
• Feel like your heart is pounding or racing (palpitations).
• Feel weak or dizzy.

As heart failure gets worse, fluid starts to build up in your lungs and other parts of your body. This may cause you to:

• Feel short of breath even at rest.
• Have swelling (edema), especially in your legs, ankles, and feet.
• Gain weight. This may happen over just a day or two, or more slowly.
• Cough or wheeze, especially when you lie down.
• Need to urinate more at night.
• Feel bloated or sick to your stomach.

If your symptoms suddenly get worse, you will need emergency care.

How is heart failure diagnosed?

Your doctor may diagnose heart failure based on your symptoms and a physical exam. But you will need tests to find the cause and type of heart failure so that you can get the right treatment. These tests may include:

• Blood tests.
• A chest X-ray.
• An electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG) to check your heart's electrical system.
• An echocardiogram to see the size and shape of your heart and how well it is pumping.
• Cardiac catheterization to check your heart and its blood vessels (coronary arteries).
• A stress test to look for coronary artery disease.

Echocardiogram

An echocardiogram is the best and simplest way to find out if you have heart failure, what type it is, and what is causing it. Your doctor can also use it to see if your heart failure is getting worse.

This test can measure how much blood your heart pumps to your body. This measurement is called the ejection fraction. If your ejection fraction gets lower and you are having more symptoms, it means that your heart failure is getting worse.

How is it treated?

Most people with heart failure need to take several medicines. Your doctor may prescribe medicines to:

• Help keep heart failure from getting worse. These drugs include ACE inhibitors, angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs), beta-blockers, and vasodilators like hydralazine and nitroglycerin.
• Reduce symptoms so you feel better. These drugs include diuretics (water pills), digoxin, and potassium.
• Treat the cause of your heart failure.

It is very important to take your medicines exactly as your doctor tells you to. If you don't, your heart failure could get worse.

Pacemaker or defibrillator

You might need to have a pacemaker or a defibrillator (ICD) if you have a problem with your heart rhythm. A pacemaker can help your heart pump blood better. An ICD can prevent a dangerous heart-rhythm problem.

Care at home

Lifestyle changes are an important part of treatment. They can help slow down heart failure. They may also help control other diseases that make heart failure worse, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and coronary artery disease.

The best steps you can take are to:

• Eat less salt (sodium). Sodium causes your body to retain water and makes it harder for your heart to pump. Your doctor may also ask you to limit how much fluid you drink.
• Get regular exercise. Your doctor can tell you what level of exercise is safe for you, how to check your pulse, and how to know if you are doing too much.
• Take rest breaks during the day.
• Lose weight if you are overweight. Even a few pounds can make a difference.
• Stop smoking.Smoking damages your heart and makes exercise harder to do.
• Limit alcohol. Ask your doctor how much, if any, is safe.

To stay as healthy as possible, work closely with your doctor. Have all your tests, and go to all your appointments. It is also important to:

• Talk to your doctor before you take any new medicine, including nonprescription and prescription drugs, vitamins, and herbs. Some of them may make your heart failure worse.
• Keep track of your symptoms. Weigh yourself at the same time every day, and write down your weight. Call your doctor if you have a sudden weight gain, a change in your ability to exercise, or any sudden change in your symptoms.

What can you expect if you have heart failure?

Medicines and lifestyle changes can slow or even reverse heart failure for some people. But heart failure often gets worse over time.

Early on, your symptoms may not be too bad. As heart failure gets worse, you may need to limit your activities. Treatment can often help reduce symptoms, but it usually doesn't get rid of them.

Heart failure can also lead to other health problems. These may include:

• Trouble with your heart rhythm (arrhythmia).
• Stroke.
• Heart attack.
• Mitral valve regurgitation.
• Blood clots in your legs (deep vein thrombosis) or lungs (pulmonary embolism).

Your doctor may be able to give you medicine or other treatment to prevent or treat these problems.

Heart failure can get worse suddenly. If this happens, you will need emergency care. To prevent sudden heart failure, you need to avoid things that can trigger it. These include eating too much salt, missing a dose of your medicine, and exercising too hard.

Knowing that your health may get worse can be hard. It is normal to sometimes feel sad or hopeless. But if these feelings last, talk to your doctor. Antidepressant medicines, counseling, or both may help you cope.

Source: http://www.webmd.com/

PARENTING - The Top 5 Mistakes Divorced Parents Make

WebMD spoke with family and divorce expert M. Gary Neuman, who gives exes pointers on how to split up without emotionally destroying their kids.

Breaking up is hard to do, and it may be especially hard for kids. Kids of divorce can feel they've been hit the hardest by the end of their parents' relationship. Some are asked to broker peace between warring exes, even as they are grieving the loss of a parent who has abruptly moved out. Others must deal with parents who suddenly can't cope with everyday tasks, like making dinner or helping with homework.

Many children carry the battle scars of divorce well into adulthood -- wounds that never needed to be inflicted in the first place. But broken-up spouses can help stop the damage by managing their own behavior before the ink dries on the divorce papers. Family and divorce expert M. Gary Neuman, LMHC, gives exes pointers on how to split up without emotionally destroying their kids long term.

1.  Don't make your child the messenger ...

"Too many parents attempt to communicate through their children," Neuman says, "which causes undue emotional stress on them and forces them to negotiate a situation their own parents could not handle.  Email is an excellent tool nowadays to communicate with your ex-spouse. It allows you to specifically discuss the practicalities of raising your child without detouring into negative areas and opening old wounds. It also provides a recorded message, admissible into court, so parents tend to be more careful when using it.

"If you want or need to speak with your ex over the phone or in person, be focused and stay on task, and most important, don't swallow the bait if he or she descends into anger. Simply say, 'I appreciate your feelings, but I am here to discuss our child's school assignment.' Take the high road. Your child's emotional health depends on it."

2.  ... or your therapist.

"Teenagers like to feel in control, and divorce turns their world upside down," Neuman says. "Don't fall into the trap of sharing divorce details or your angry feelings about your ex with your older kids. Their own anxiety and need for control causes them to be 'understanding' of what you're going through, but you need to be the parent. Get outside help for yourself, get therapy if necessary, and maintain those boundaries. Making your child your cohort is wrong and does them damage."

3.  Try to "get" your kid.

"Kids need to feel as if they are understood," Neuman says, and after a divorce their feelings may be in turmoil. "Listen to them. Don't tell them what to think. And it might be difficult, but never criticize your ex -- it's a criticism of your child, who, of course, is 50% of your ex-husband or wife. Respond specifically to what they are telling you. Say, 'It sounds like you are feeling sad/mad/upset about meeting your dad's new girlfriend, is that right?' As a parent, you don't have to have a solution. You just need to hear them.

"And don't editorialize. You can suggest your child write down his feelings and share them with your ex, but only if the child wants to do so. Stay trained on your child's feelings, not yours. Healing comes through a loving connection and from feeling understood."

4.  Avoid the third degree.

"I tell parents to treat their child's weekend away with their ex-spouse as if the child has just visited an aunt or uncle," Neuman says. "Saying nothing will leave your child stressed, as if he must compartmentalize both worlds and tiptoe around this other experience. On the other hand, grilling the child puts him squarely in the middle, which is an impossible position emotionally. So ask your kid fun and general questions, which diffuses tension. And then let it go."

5.  Repair the damage you've already done.

Many divorced parents reading these tips may recognize mistakes they've unintentionally made with their own kids. Is it ever too late to undo emotional fall-out from a nasty split? "No, children are remarkably forgiving," Neuman says, "at least until they reach their later teen years, when anger may be more cemented. If you've made mistakes, it's important to do the following:

Apologize for them. Saying you're sorry goes a long way with your kids.

Explain in detail exactly what you've done wrong, and then commit to changing your behavior from that moment on.

Give your child a safe and specific signal -- for example, tell your child to raise his or her hand when you begin criticizing your ex -- which serves as a time-out for you, telling you in no uncertain terms you're doing it again and need to stop immediately."

Source: http://www.webmd.com/

EBOLA VIRUS - Ebola epidemic spreads to FIFTH West African country as case of deadly virus is reported in Senegal - but quarantine is lifted in slum area of Liberian capital

Ebola epidemic spreads to FIFTH West African country as case of deadly virus is reported in Senegal - but quarantine is lifted in slum area of Liberian capital

• Ebola spreads to fifth nation in West Africa as first case reported in Senegal
• Outbreak has killed more than 1,550 people in the region amid warnings cases are increasing
• Liberia to unseal slum cordoned off to stop the spread of the deadly virus
• Scientists say first human trials of a potential vaccine could start next week 

By JULIAN ROBINSON FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 14:42 GMT, 30 August 2014 | UPDATED: 17:07 GMT, 30 August 2014

 
 
 
 
 

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Ebola has spread to a fifth nation in West Africa as it was revealed the epidemic has killed more than 1,550 people in the region.

A case of the deadly virus has been reported in Senegal, making it the first time a new country has been hit by the outbreak since July.

It comes a day after the World Health Organisation warned the number of infections was increasing rapidly.

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The Central Hospital of University of Fann in Dakar, Senegal, where the first case of Ebola in the country was received

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Senegalese health minister Awa Marie Coll-Seck confirmed the frist case of Ebola in Senegal, the fifth West African country to be hit by the deadly virus

Senegal becomes fifth country to confirm a case of Ebola

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The Ebola virus has claimed the lives of more than 1,550 people in West Africa since the outbreak started

Senegal's health ministry said the country's first Ebola patient was a young Guinean man who was immediately quarantined at a Dakar hospital, where he was in a 'satisfactory condition'.

The man is believed to have been infected in Guinea's capital Conakry, and may have travelled to Senegal before Dakar closed its land border with Guinea on August 21.

 

More...

• Ebola drug Zmapp is 100% effective at treating monkeys with the deadly disease, scientists declare 
• Dogs EATING corpses of Ebola victims in Liberia after digging them out of shallow graves that they had been dumped in
• U.S. colleges screen students from West Africa for Ebola as fears grow over epidemic 

Authorities are now trying to piece together where he went and who he encountered, in a bid to halt the spread of the deadly virus.

Meanwhile, Liberia says it will open up a slum in its capital where thousands of people were barricaded to contain the spread.

Information Minister Lewis Brown says lifting the quarantine on Saturday does not mean there is no Ebola in the West Point slum. 

Liberia President: We must beat the 'demon' of Ebola

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Family members and friends of a man believed to have died form the Ebola virus, gather near his home as his body is removed by health workers in Monrovia, Liberia

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Liberian health workers outside a home of a man that they believed died from the Ebola virus in Monrovia, Liberia

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Despite the death, Liberia says it will open up a slum in its capital where thousands of people were barricaded to contain the spread of the virus

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Liberian health workers carry the body of a man that they believed died form the Ebola virus from his home in Monrovia, Liberia. The Ebola outbreak in West Africa could exceed 20,000 cases, the World Health Organisation has warned

But authorities feel confident they can screen for the sick and that the community now actively fighting the disease.

Scientists say the first human trials of a potential vaccine would start next week using a product made by pharmaceuticals giant GlaxoSmithKline and the US government. 

On Friday, scientists writing in the journal Nature said 18 lab monkeys given high doses of the Ebola virus fully recovered after being given the prototype drug ZMapp, which reversed bleeding in the animals. 

ZMapp has been given to a handful of frontline health workers who have contracted Ebola, two of whom have recovered, and two of whom have died. Three others are still receiving the treatment.

New figures released by WHO this week revealed the massive scale of the crisis, which it said indicated a 'rapid increase still in the intensity of transmission' that could cost at least $490 million to tackle. 

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 The LIberian government says lifting the quarantine will not mean there is no Ebola in the West Point slum

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A school classroom lies abandoned in Kenema, Sierra Leone. Many have been shut while whole villages have been quarantined in the country

In a sign that affected countries are struggling to stop its spread, the UN agency said the number of cases could exceed 20,000 before the epidemic is brought under control.

As of August 26, 1,552 people had been confirmed dead from Ebola in four countries - Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and Nigeria.

Liberia was the worst affected with 694 deaths; 422 people have died in Sierra Leone; and 430 in Guinea, where the virus emerged at the start of the year. Nigeria has now recorded six deaths.

The Democratic Republic of Congo has also confirmed two cases of Ebola, but officials there insist it is unconnected to the current outbreak in West Africa.

In Sierra Leone President Ernest Koroma yesterday sacked health minister Miatta Kargbo. 

WEST AFRICAN NATIONS HIT OUT AT 'UNFAIR' TRAVEL BANS 

In a bid to stop the spread of the virus, many African governments have sought to ringfence Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.

But member states of the West African regional bloc ECOWAS have complained that some of the security measures taken by other countries, including travel bans, had unfairly hit the region.

A number of airlines, including Air France and British Airways, have suspended their services to Freetown and Monrovia, the capitals of Sierra Leone and Liberia respectively.

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A number of airlines, including Air France and British Airways, have suspended their services to Freetown and Monrovia, the capitals of Sierra Leone and Liberia respectively

Bruce Aylward, the WHO's head of emergency programmes, said it was 'absolutely vital' that airlines resume flights because bans were hindering the emergency response.

The outbreak has also caused sporting chaos, with Sierra Leone having to field all players for the qualifying games for the African Cup of Nations from outside the country over a growing quarantine.

Morocco, which will host the tournament next year, said on Friday it was launching a national commission tasked with drawing up a health plan to deal with the risk from Ebola.

A presidential statement read on state television said the decision was made 'in order to create a conducive environment for more efficient and effective handling of the Ebola outbreak.' 

Nigeria's latest death - in the southeastern oil city of Port Harcourt - was the first outside its biggest city, Lagos, and dashed hopes that the country had successfully contained the virus.

The victim, a doctor named Ikyke Samuel Enuemo, is believed to have caught the virus from a patient he treated who travelled to the city after coming into contact with an infected Liberian-American man.

Some 160 people are now under surveillance in Port Harcourt following the doctor's death, the local government said on Friday.

Meanwhile a curfew was imposed in N'Zerekore, Guinea's second-largest city, a day after 20 people were injured during a protest by market stall holders against a team of health workers sent, without notice, to spray their market with disinfectant. 

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk

SHOCKING - Mother found names of 125 potential sex abusers on daughter's mobile phone – and Rotherham police refused to investigate because ‘it breached girl's human rights’

Mother found names of 125 potential sex abusers on daughter's mobile phone – and Rotherham police refused to investigate because ‘it breached girl's human rights’ 

• Force allegedly said investigating names would breach human rights
• Claimed by Professor Alexis Jay, author of report into Rotherham abuse 
• A former worker says paedophiles would brazenly turn up at children's home
• Says girls would tie sheets together to escape to meet attackers 
• Added that carers at the home would be threatened if they confronted them 
• Also revealed Rotherham Council won award for tackling exploitation 
• Was awarded to child sexual exploitation team in March this year 
• Report this week found 1,400 children were abused in town for 16 years
• Children were trafficked, beaten and raped at the hands of Asian men  

By JENNIFER NEWTON FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 09:13 GMT, 30 August 2014 | UPDATED: 10:49 GMT, 30 August 2014

 
 
 
 
 

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South Yorkshire Police has been accused of failing to act when a mother in Rotherham found the names of 125 potential sex abusers on her daughter's mobile phone, it has been reported.

It has been alleged that the force told the mother that investigating the names would be a 'breach of her daughter's human rights'.

The claims come from Professor Alexis Jay, the author of a damning report released this week into how 1,400 children in the South Yorkshire town were sexually abused at the hands of Asian men over 16 years, in an interview with the Daily Telegraph.

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A mother has alleged that South Yorkshire Police, pictured, failed to act when she told them of 125 names of potential sex abusers on her daughter's mobile phone

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Alexis Jay, the author of a report, which investigated child abuse in Rotherham and found that at least 1,400 children had been victims

In another case she claims it was also alleged that a CID officer suggested a 12-year-old, who had sex with five men was not a victim of abuse because it was 'consensual'.

The claims come after the report by Professor Jay said the abuse went unreported for 16 years between 1997 and 2013, because staff feared they would be seen as racist.

More...

• Former boss of Rotherham council to be questioned over what he knew about child grooming scandal after claims that officials wiped computer files 
• The abuse is STILL going on ¿ and now it¿s even worse: SUE REID broke the story of sex gangs preying on young white girls. This week one victim took her round Rotherham and pointed out her attackers still swaggering the street

Yesterday South Yorkshire's chief constable spoke out about the report for the first time yesterday saying the findings made painful reading and vowed to 'fully investigate' the abuses.

He said: 'The report into CSE (child sexual exploitation) in Rotherham laid bare the failings of South Yorkshire Police over a number of years.

Yvette Cooper has called for the resignation of Shaun Wright

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The chief constable of South Yorkshire Police David Crompton, right, pictured with Shaun Right the PCC for South Yorkshire 

'This made for painful reading. However, I am determined that we will use the findings of the report to ensure the mistakes of the past are not repeated,' he added.

It has also been claimed that former South Yorkshire Police chief Mike Hedges, was sent two letter giving a detailed account of abuse Rotherham.

But Mr Hedges told the Times: 'Things were going on of which I was not aware... but I'm certain that the issue was never raised as something of high priority at all.'

Meanwhile a former worker at a children's home in Rotherham has told how paedophiles would brazenly turn up to pick up girls as young as 11 who would escape from the building.

A source, who has not been named, has now told the Daily Mirror how groomed girls in the home where he worked would escape from windows by tying their bed sheets together so they could meet up with the men.

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The child sexual exploitation team at Rotherham Council, pictured, won an award in March for tackling child sex exploitation 

He said: 'If they [the girls] could leave by the fire escape, they would leave by the fire escape but sometimes, to hide where they were going, they would put bed sheets together and climb out of a window.

'Sometimes they would phone and they would pick up around the corner, but sometimes they would turn up and pick up at the children's home.

'It depended on how brazen they were or how much heat they thought was on at the time.'

He also added that workers at the home were threatened by the men if they confronted them.

It comes as it was also revealed that Rotherham Council's child sexual exploitation team won an award for tackling child sex exploitation in March, despite being at the centre of an abuse scandal. 

The national award was presented by the charity the NWG Network, who said they team were recognised for undergoing 'the longest journey under challenging conditions'.

However, chief executive of the charity Sheila Taylor defended the decision to award Rotherham the honour and told the Sun it was for work done over the past year by current council staff.

The spotlight first fell on Rotherham in 2010 when five men, described by a judge as 'sexual predators', were given lengthy jail terms after they were found guilty of grooming teenage girls for sex.

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Ged Fitzgerald, the former chief executive of Rotherham Council, who is set to be questioned by his current employer Liverpool Council, over what he knew about the town's sex abuse scandal 

The five men - Umar Razaq, Adil Hussain, Razwan Razaq, Zafran Ramzan, and Mohsin Khan - preyed on their victims over several months and threatened them with violence if they refused their advances.

The men, all British-born Pakistanis, attacked the four girls in play areas, parks and in the back of their cars, Sheffield Crown Court heard.

Yesterday it was revealed that the former chief executive of Rotherham Council is to be questioned by his current employer over what he knew about the town's sex abuse scandal.

Ged Fitzgerald, now head of Liverpool council, presided in Rotherham for a two-year period between 1997 and 2013.

And during his tenure from 2001 to 2003, council figures allegedly wiped evidence of sexual abuse cases from computers as the Home Office compiled a report on the town.

Mr Fitzgerald will become the first of the senior councillors in charge during the scandal to face interrogation.

In a statement, Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson said he intended to raise his concerns about the report with Mr Fitzgerald.

Earlier an Australian abuse victims' advocate called on Rotherham's former director of children's services to step down from her current job in that country.

Andrew Collins said Dr Sonia Sharp's role as a deputy secretary in the state of Victoria's education department, which she has held since 2012, was inappropriate. She has been publicly backed by her employer.

Dr Sharp, who worked in Rotherham from 2005 to 2008, apologised to abuse victims yesterday and said staff were aware that 'many' children were at risk. She said she wished she could have done more but insisted she had helped improve things during her tenure. 

Rotherham child abuse victim on reporting rape claims to police

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk