Living with Heart Failure

Dear Colleagues,

The prevalence and incidence of heart failure (HF), as well as HF-related hospitalization, death and costs, continue to rise over time alongside the aging population.

Medical conditions that increase the risk for HF are well studied. Psychosocial as well as unhealthy behaviors (i.e., smoking, a high-fat and -sodium diet, a sedentary lifestyle, drug abuse and excessive alcohol use) are known risk factors for developing HF. However, the benefit effect of addressing these issues through different outcome metrics is not well studied for all HF types. In the literature, the lack of consistency, the deficiency of standardization, and the incompleteness of the information available to use when making decisions on how to approach lifestyle modifications in HF patients make it challenging to reinforce the importance of such factors as much as is needed to implement the use and the compliance with GDMT and a low-salt diet. This certainly leads to a need to improve our understanding of this important aspect of care. Further investigations and more emphasis on this matter would benefit patients and their managing team.  

We are pleased to invite you to provide clinicians and patients with evidence-based recommendations on the benefit of risk factor modification and on how to approach patients with HF to make these changes a part of a guideline-driven therapy.

In this Special Issue, original articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• The effect of exercise and rehabilitation on different types of HF.
• Recommendations on how to live with HF.
• The effect of polypharmacy and restricted diet on compliance and psychological behavior.
• The effect of psychosocial and economic issues on the progression of HF and how to prevent it.
• The benefit of a multidisciplinary team approach, including social workers and pharmacists, vs. clinicians only in the management of HF.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Wissam I. Khalife
Guest Editor

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• heart failure
• lifestyle
• exercise
• psychosocial
• polypharmacy
• multidisciplinary