Heart Diseases

Is Portable Oxygen Good for Congestive Heart Failure?

Is Portable Oxygen Good for Congestive Heart Failure?

Congestive Heart Failure, also known as CHF, is a condition that obstructs blood from adequately flowing throughout the body. This happens when the arteries in your heart are too narrow, and it often goes along with high blood pressure that has gone untreated for too long, which has made the heart too weak or stiff to pump blood correctly.

It’s not uncommon for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and CHF to occur together, since the pulmonary and cardiovascular systems are so dependent on one another. If you have either one of these diseases, or both, you’ll have a hard time getting enough oxygen into your bloodstream, and to the different parts of your body.

COPD has also been known to have a weakening effect on the heart because your heart needs the right amount of oxygen-rich blood flowing through it at all times.

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Scott Ridl

February is American Heart Health Month

February is American Heart Health Month

February isn’t just all about red plastic heart decorations for Valentines Day. It’s also a great month to raise awareness about heart health and prevent heart disease. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), heart disease is the number one leading cause of death in Americans. That’s more deaths than those caused by cancer, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

February means cold weather for many in the US, and that means many people stay indoors, get less physical activity, and we tend to want to eat more of the things that aren’t exactly healthy for us. Chocolate and wine are good for you in moderation (we’ll tell you more about that!), but many of the “comfort foods” we tend to gravitate toward can be very unhealthy, and bad for our hearts.

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Scott Ridl

Another Way Oxygen Therapy Can Save Your Heart

Save your Heart for Oxygen Therapy

It’s a fact that our whole bodies need oxygen to stay alive, and we need a certain amount to stay healthy and live a long life. Every cell needs oxygen, with it being even more important for 2 organs specifically – our brains, and our hearts. These two organs work harder than anything else to keep us going and running properly, and if our lungs can’t bring in enough oxygen, this is when we need to use oxygen therapy. If we aren’t getting enough oxygen to our hearts, it will eventually result in heart failure, as well as a number of other health problems.

It’s not just lung diseases that can create the need for oxygen therapy. Recently, a professor at the school of medicine in Dartmouth, New Hampshire observed that oxygen therapy can prevent cell death in the muscles around the heart after a heart attack.

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Scott Ridl

The Link Between Heart Attacks and COPD

The Link Between Heart Attacks and COPD

A study from the Columbia University Medical Center suggests that even a mild lung condition can have an effect on the health of your heart and put you at an higher risk for cardiovascular disease. Severe Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease or COPD is already known to cause a significant amount of strain on the heart, but in general, there is still more research that needs to be done on exactly how much damage mild COPD can cause on the heart.

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Scott Ridl

Things You Can Do to Try to Recover Quicker From a COPD Exacerbation

Things You Can Do to Try to Recover Quicker From a COPD Exacerbation

If you have COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), you have mostly likely had to deal with one or a few flare-ups, also known as exacerbations. Exacerbations take a toll on lung function each time you have one, and unfortunately, your lung function will never get back to where it was before the exacerbation.

COPD itself takes a toll on the body, the extent of which depends on how bad it is and if you have continued to smoke after being diagnosed with the disease. It’s true that early and aggressive treatment of this disease makes a big difference in how it progresses.

A COPD exacerbation can leave you feeling weak and exhausted. You might have a hard time concentrating and you will likely feel more anxious, depressed or easily angered. The way you feel, besides the way you breathe, should not be overlooked.

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Scott Ridl

Things to Start During National Heart Month

Things to Start During National Heart Month

February is National Heart Month, and as you know, whatever happens to your lungs has a long term and short term effect on your ticker. All of the systems in your body work together (the endocrine system, immune system, nervous system, etc.) and all depend on each other to keep your body working and balanced, but your heart depends on your lungs to bring in the oxygen – a very important job. If your lungs aren’t doing their job, everything else starts to suffer very quickly.

During National Heart Month, the American Heart Association works to raise awareness about heart disease, which is the number one killer of women. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it’s the leading cause of death or all types of cancer.

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Scott Ridl