1. (NU) - From casual conver-
sation to pop culture, the heart is
the organ we love to talk about.
We reminisce about our high
school heartthrobs, center our
hearts in yoga class and cry over
our last heartbreaks.
The human heart is impor-
tant -- essential, actually -- but
not infallible. Heart failure is the
cause for over a million hospi-
tal visits in the U.S. annually
and an unimaginable $31 billion
dollars of health care expenses.
It is a chronic, progressively
worsening disease with high
mortality that affects more than
5.1 million Americans.
Is your heart at risk? Here are
five facts about heart failure that
you need to know:
1: Heart failure occurs from
an overworking heart.
Heart failure occurs when the
heart can’t pump enough blood to
meet the body’s demands. Initial-
ly, in patients with heart damage
from problems such as coronary
artery disease, heart attack or
chronic high blood pressure, the
heart will work harder to provide
the body an appropriate blood sup-
ply. As the heart becomes over-
worked, the heart muscle gradu-
ally weakens. Over time, the heart
will fail to pump appropriately,
generating a condition commonly
known as heart failure.
2: Identifying heart failure
is tricky.
Most people don’t discover
they have heart failure until after
they have experienced a heart
attack or stroke. The leading
causes of heart failure are dis-
eases that damage the heart.
3: Heart failure is common.
Every 30 seconds, someone
in America is hospitalized due
to heart failure. In the United
States, 550,000 people are diag-
nosed with this disease each
year, and 30 percent of these in-
dividuals will pass away within
six to 12 months.
Certain groups are at an in-
creased risk. African-Americans
are 20 times more likely to have
heart failure before the age of 40.
People over age 65 are at the
greatest susceptibility.
4: There is hope.
New treatments and innovative
monitoring tools are now available
for people with heart failure.These
include the CardioMEMS HF Sys-
tem, a first-of-its-kind remote
monitoring device for Class III
heart failure patients. The device,
developed by St. Jude Medical,
creates a monitoring bridge be-
tween a patients home and care
team by remotely sending vital in-
formation to the physician’s office
on a regular basis.
5: Stay in control.
If at risk for heart failure, man-
age your health by scheduling a
checkup with your physician. If
you have heart failure, talk to your
physician about your options, in-
cluding remote monitoring tools
like the CardioMEMS HF System.
The human heart has earned a
spot in our everyday conversation
for a reason. Don’t take this organ
for granted. Find more information
about St. Jude Medical and its
commitment to healthy hearts at
www.heartfailureanswers.com.
The CardioMEMS HF Sys-
tem is indicated for wirelessly
measuring and monitoring pul-
monary artery (PA) pressure and
heart rate in New York Heart As-
sociation (NYHA) Class III heart
failure patients who have been
hospitalized for heart failure in
the previous year. The hemody-
namic data are used by physicians
for heart failure management
with the goal of reducing heart
failure hospitalizations.
The CardioMEMS HF System
is contraindicated for patients
with an inability to take dual an-
tiplatelet or anticoagulants for one
month post-implant.
Potential adverse events as-
sociated with the implantation
procedure include, but are not
limited to, the following: infec-
tion, arrhythmias, bleeding,
hematoma, thrombus, myocar-
dial infarction, transient is-
chemic attack, stroke, death, and
device embolization. Refer to
the user’s manual for detailed
indications, contraindications,
warnings, precautions and po-
tential adverse events.
AreYou at Risk for Heart Failure?
5 Need-to-Know Facts
HEALTH
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If you’re at risk of heart
failure, see a physician
before it’s too late.