A campaign to help the public recognise the symptoms of heart failure is being launched today.
The drive by the British Society for Heart Failure (BSH), ahead of Heart Failure Awareness Week, which takes place 10-16 May, follows a survey in which more than half of the respondents admit they do not recognise the symptoms.
The BSH British poll findings echo those of a global survey held in 2020 by the World Heart Federation (WHF), which showed there was low awareness among the public of the signs and symptoms of heart failure.
Fewer than half surveyed connected the leading symptoms of heart failure with the disease, while only 11% knew that half of people with heart failure die within five years of their diagnosis.
The poll also showed that 60% of policymakers were unaware of heart failure as the leading cause of hospitalisations among people over 65 years.
The themes of failure and freedom will run through the BSH awareness campaign, which aims to reassure and encourage people showing symptoms of heart failure that to seek medical advice early is preferable to becoming an emergency admission, if avoidable.
Dr Simon Williams, BSH chair and consultant cardiologist, heart failure specialist, said: “Heart failure is arguably the biggest success story of modern day medicine, we have made extraordinary progress over the last two decades and whilst it remains a burdensome, often debilitating condition, with appropriate management, it is possible for people to live well with heart failure.
“Outcomes can be dramatically improved through earlier, faster diagnosis and expediting optimal treatment onto guideline recommended therapies. This is an important aim of the care we provide as heart failure specialists.”
Management of heart failure accounts for about 2% of the NHS budget, 70% of which is spent on acute hospital admissions. However, there are better outcomes for those with heart failure if diagnosis and treatment, guided by a heart failure specialist, are begun early.
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