Congestive Cardiac Failure [antikvár]

Preface The status of cardiovascular disease and, in particular, heart disease as the major consumer of health care resources in the western world cannot be challenged. The total economic burden, if one includes the effects of morbidity/disability and loss of productivity on the general community, is immense. It is not surprising, therefore, that considerable financial and human resources are given over to the treatment of and research into cardiovascular disease. New approaches to therapy are regularly heralded as major breakthroughs by the pharmaceutical industry, although enthusiasm must be tempered until more information is gathered during clinical usage. Our principal aim should be to abolish heart disease by attacking the root causes. In epidemiological terms and from the point of view of preventive medicine, we are gradually moving in this direction, albeit very slowly. In the meantime, however, it is necessary to treat the consequences of the disease process and reduce morbidity/mortality for the patient as far as we can. Heart failure can be seen as the final common pathway for a wide variety of different causes of heart disease. Some of these are potentially amenable to "cure" as their root cause is identifiable and either directly treatable or preventable—for example, hypertensive heart disease and rheumatic valve disease. For the most part, however, the underlying cause of heart failure in a particular patient can only be ameliorated, at best, and therefore we