Why Heart Failure Fails to Make News
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By ROGER SERGEL, ABC News Medical Unit
BREAKING NEWS – New advances in heart failure.
Mute buttons are pushed. Channels are changed. There are no Web site clicks. You can hear the collective response.
“Not interested."
But heart failure affects 5 million to 6 million people and, with 500,000 new cases a year, is the leading cause of hospitalizations.
“But it’s boring. There are no sirens, no patients rolled into emergency rooms. I don’t remember seeing it on ‘Grey’s Anatomy.’ ”
Maybe not, but do you realize that the more people we keep alive after heart attacks, the more heart failure patients we will have.
“So what? Oh, yes, I do like those stories about patients with failing hearts who get artificial hearts or some cool device that keeps them alive. There are neat before-and- after-pictures showing how much the patient can do after getting a new heart.”
But , those devices cost $50,000 and may help only a few hundred patients.
“And I don’t get it. What is a heart failure?’
Other people wonder too. Dr. Milton Packer, a heart failure specialist from Southwestern Medical Center, says we really do not understand this disease.
So on a day like Tuesday when the American Heart Association offered the news that joyful music helps your arteries, and obese children have arteries that resemble those of 45-year-olds, the chance of any of the four major new heart failure studies getting much attention are pretty slim, even though one study had a significant finding that exercise for heart failure patients is safe.
Why is heart failure so often ignored by the press, despite the growing numbers of patients? Unlike a heart attack — which you either fix, or you don’t — heart failure is a slow process, said Dr. Clyde Yancy at Baylor University. Success is measured over months, not days or weeks. There is nothing immediate about heart failure.
Dr. Arthur Feldman at Thomas Jefferson was president of the Heart Failure Society from 1998 to 2000. He says the society studied the issue, and it learned the following:
1. Patients and families viewed heart failure as a death sentence;
2. Many members of the public viewed heart failure as a disease of the elderly — not of the young;
3. Because heart failure is a collection of symptoms that can be caused by a variety of specific cardiovascular diseases, there is often confusion about the term — and the public hates confusion.
Feldman also added that big pharma has not had any “blockbuster” heart failure drugs, and as a result any advertising would have to come from nonprofit societies.
So there are no "Viva" heart failure drug ads to raise awareness.
There are treatments for heart failure today, and heart failure primarily affects the elderly. But there are young people who develop heart failure too.
Dr. Jim Young at the Cleveland Clinic notes that we are paying attention to coronary artery disease when it is falling but ignoring heart failure, which is on the rise. “Though we have truly great treatments for heart failure, the total number of folks with the problem continues to increase (particularly those in advanced states). I think that he issue is allure — heart failure just isn’t very sexy.”
Not sexy. That’s what nearly all the heart failure specialists said.
What heart failure needs is some spokesperson, like Michael J. Fox for Parkinson’s or Joe Torre for prostate cancer or Nancy Reagan for Alzheimer’s. Breast Cancer has lots of attractive spokespeople who talk about the disease.
The heart failure people actually tried to get a spokesperson several years ago. Packer says. “The problem was anybody we found was too short of breath to talk.”
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I guess in our American Idol society everything has to be glamorized to get attention. How very sad! (and deadly)
Posted by: samhiguchi | November 12, 2008, 5:30 am 5:30 am
My mom died three weeks ago from heart failure.
Posted by: silent | November 12, 2008, 5:43 am 5:43 am
My sympathies silent.
Posted by: samhiguchi | November 12, 2008, 6:07 am 6:07 am
I’m 60, female and have had heart failure since I was just 51. I’m considered a young heart failure patient. Most people can’t believe I have this disease because I look younger than my years and I look very healthy. Four years ago, after not taking my meds as I should have been doing, I had nightly episodes of acute pulmonary edema. This is a life threatening condition in which the lungs fill with fluid when you lie down to sleep. This was intitially diagnosed as asthma, but my inhalers did no good. After research on the internet I went back to my internist and told her I thought my heart failure had worsened. Indeed it had. It took over six months on medication for me to begin to have any energy and normal breathing and not to feel like death warmed over. I got a cardio defibrillator last December because many heart failure patients die of sudden cardiac arrest. I don’t have cardiovascular disease, nor have I ever had a heart attack. My cardiologist suspects a prior bacterial infection or a virus with damaging my heart, and my father died of congestive heart failure at just 53. Heart failure can be managed with a good diet, exercise and medication taken faithfully. A good
cardiologist is a necessity. I think there are probably a lot of people out there who may have the beginnings of this disease and not know it, so getting the message out is very important.
Posted by: Nancy Branch | November 12, 2008, 7:28 am 7:28 am
Boring article
Posted by: Kenneth Pennington | November 12, 2008, 10:06 am 10:06 am
Heart Failure isn’t sexy enough for the public?
Give me a break!
The public just reads the media’s drivel.
They are in no way responsible for it!
It’s the media’s job to disseminate vital public information. That’s why the get the right to use the airwaves.
If they weren’t so hell bent on “selling” the news like it was any other commodity, this would not be an issue!
Stop whining and perform your highly paid job like you are suppose to!
Posted by: kjunrj | November 12, 2008, 10:08 am 10:08 am
many thanks to our heroes at McDonalds,Burger King,Wendys,and all the rest of them. their sincere concern for high profits has been of great assistance to the development of heart disease in our country. i am sure they will remain diligent in offering the public their low cost,(to them) low quality artery clogging cuisine to the mostly indifferent,unconcerned public who know it is not the best for them but rather like their addiction to it.
Posted by: jeff m | November 12, 2008, 10:27 am 10:27 am
Heart failure not only strikes the elderly, but also the young.
I hope none of you readers will ever know how heartbreaking it is to loose a loved one.
Posted by: THISISIT | November 12, 2008, 11:05 am 11:05 am
jeff m,
you coming over tonight for ribs and wings?
Posted by: e-wench | November 12, 2008, 11:12 am 11:12 am
is the irony of this article apparent to anyone else? here’s the media wistfully proclaiming that the media doesn’t report on heart failure. shouldnt they fix it? As a heart failure researcher myself, i find this very funny.
Posted by: RT | November 12, 2008, 11:13 am 11:13 am
i guess you dont want to report on it so we dont have it im in my 50ies and i have heart falure
Posted by: davidpatrick344 | November 12, 2008, 11:31 am 11:31 am
Hey, e-wench I want some wings and ribs…lol…Anyway, heart failure is not something unheard of. The media is not covering it b/c they are too busy trying to predict “flu pandemic” (articl here this morning) and trying to tell people the economy is crumbling so stay home and freak out….If it werent for the role the media plays in a lot of things life would be smoother. Now we need to figure out how else to worry the public, oh lets run a story on the raising rate of heart failure. Generallly heart failure is due to an already traumatized heart. Therefore, if heart attacks and what not are popular then so heart failure will be popular as well….
Posted by: LIFE | November 12, 2008, 11:33 am 11:33 am
There is a way to look at hemodynamic parameters, including estimates of cardiac output – one means to evaluate for heart failure; and it is called Dynapulse – http://www.dynapulse.com. If more primary care physicians such as myself used this gizmo then there would be more awareness of the possibility of heart failure at an earlier stage. You should look at primary care physicians who use this gizmo and how it helps them manage their patients with heart failure.
Posted by: cbday | November 12, 2008, 11:43 am 11:43 am
It is naive and unfair to totally blame the current obesity situation in America on the fast food chains. While admittedly they are partly responsible by providing high calorie foods at low prices, the consumer has the choice whether to purchase the product or decline and choose a healthier option. And for those who argue that some are forced to go with the less expensive food option due to a tight budget, water
is far more healthy than the sodas and juices that many indulge in at chain restaurants, as are nutritious and cheaper foods such as rice and beans.
Posted by: LAT | November 12, 2008, 11:52 am 11:52 am
This is the most poorly written article I’ve read in some time. It does a disservice to heart failure. Learn to write.
Posted by: Ron | November 12, 2008, 12:07 pm 12:07 pm
Mr. Sergal needs to have this discussion with his bosses and the rest of his colleagues at the ABC News Medical Unit. Health is one of the most poorly covered subjects by the media, and ABC News is no exception. Much of what passes as health news is actually thinly disguised (women’s) beauty concerns or what would circumspectly be called human oddities. Journalists also like to fixate the public on health scares, like the TB patient who flew around the world or “mad cow” disease. The odd and unusual are covered extensively by the mainstream media, while the real killers (heart disease, cancer, stroke, and COPD) receive rare, perfunctory treatment. Journalists distort the public’s understanding of heath concerns, allowing the real killers to continue on as if they were a natural part of life.
Posted by: Keith | November 12, 2008, 12:54 pm 12:54 pm
My dad had a massive, unexpected heart attack on July 20. He went into cardiac arrest 4-5, had an emergency triple bypass, kept developing abnormal heart rhythms so he had to be defibrillated (shocked) about 40 times. His heart sustained so much damage that it cannot pump effectively. The heart has to work harder to try and supply the body with oxygen, and this further enlarges and weakens the heart. That’s basically what heart failure is-a heart pumping inefficiently due to damge or disease. The major problem is that since the blood isn’t circulating that well, it just sits in your blood vessels.This is especially bad in the lungs, and clear fluid from the blood starts to seep into the lungs, literally “drowning” a person.What can be done? Mostly medications that help the heart pump more effectivly, and diuretics (“water pills”)that keep the patient “dry” so there is less fluid in the body to seep into the lungs. Needless to say, if your lungs even have a little fluid in them it can be very difficult to breathe. This is why it is called “congestive” heart failure. Some people might be candidates for a heart transplant, but my dad is not. It’s a serious, chronic condition that can turn life-threatening very quickly. Chances are you know someone with CHF. Pray you never have it because it’s extremely debilitating.
Posted by: AKJ | November 12, 2008, 1:58 pm 1:58 pm
Geez… what a lousy writer!
Posted by: Kim | November 12, 2008, 2:02 pm 2:02 pm
It is a horrible illness-my mom is 68, had rheumatic fever at 12=permanent heart damage. She has an artificial heart valve. We are blessed to live in an era where she has gotten excellent care. She has a bivent pacemaker/defib. and she faithfully takes her meds. She is doing well-praise drs and God. It is a tightrope to manage, but it can be done.
Posted by: deb | November 12, 2008, 2:34 pm 2:34 pm
I was diagnosed w/congestive heart failure and attending cardiomyopathy at 50 years old. I have survived to ‘catastrophic’ cardia arrests thanks to a defibrilator implant my team of cardiologists, the bloody piles of pills that I have to take each and the look on my daughter’s face after she found me on the floor in grand mal seizure caused by the discharge of the defibrilator are what keep me alive. It is a stupid, quiet killer. I have no cholesterol or blockage issues, nor have I ever had a heart attack. I just turned 60 and look healthy on the outside – inside I’m a balloon waiting to burst. More pharmaceutical research is needed, and lots, and lots of education needs to be provided. I was already in pretty bad shape when first diagnosed, but w/media-driven education people might be diagnosed earlier on – and the long-term survival rate improved.
Posted by: Liz | November 13, 2008, 8:42 am 8:42 am
I’m a physician, but I also represent the leading manufacturer of “cool devices” that were mentioned. The inextricable link between heart failure and sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is missing from this conversation. People with heart failure need to know that they could be at risk for SCA – a leading cause of death in the US. SCA is 95% fatal, but the “cool devices” are proven 98% effective in preventing SCA. If you think you might be at risk, or you’ve been diagnosed with heart failure, talk to your doctor.
Posted by: icdsaveslives | November 13, 2008, 10:39 am 10:39 am
11-17-2008
I WILL BE GLAD TO SPEAK ON A PERSONAL
BASIS ABOUT HEART FAILURE, IN ANYWAY POSSIBLE, AS A NON MEDICAL SPOKESPERSON.
IT TAKES SO MANY OF OUR LOVED ONES, RECENTLY, EVEN WITH THE BEST OF CARE OUR MOM, EVEN THOUGH SHE WAS NOT A CANDIDATE FOR HEART SURGERY..IF THE HEART FAILURE, FROM AORTIC VALVE STENOSIS, WAS NOT THERE, I AM SURE SHE WOULD HAVE BEEN WITH US FOR A GOOD
(GOD GIVEN), MANY MORE YEARS. SHE WAS SHARP, AS A TACK.
I AGREE, ESPECIALLY WITH THE MUMBERS, MORE MUST BE DONE AND WE HAVE TO BE MORE VOCAL, ESPECIALLY FOR RESEARCH-
AORTIC VALVE BYPASS-REFLEXOLOGY ETC.
IF INTERESTED, LESSONS LEARNED,
WHAT TO EXPECT AND HOW WE CAN MIGHT
DO MORE. LET ME KNOW.
THANK YOU TO ALL.
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!
Posted by: JMD | November 17, 2008, 9:25 am 9:25 am
I too was diagnosed with CHF last year and I also have breast cancer. Now the thinking is that my CHF came from one of the chemos I took.
Breast Cancer gets alot of attention but the media doesn’t seem to mention the fact that there is more than one kind of breast cancer, to them we are all in one neat little package.
Why can’t patients w/CHF and caregivers call their local news, carry signs, start groups, draw attention like they did for breast cancer? The figures are out there! Although they (media) still have bc partially wrong it is a beginning. Why does it always have to be a famous starlett to draw attention to something? How about the average person out there that suffers from CHF? I understand but I don’t.
Posted by: PT | November 22, 2008, 8:44 am 8:44 am
Actually, obesity is not the cause of every disease, folks. We need to stop engaging in stereotyping and in blindly accepting the bogeyman of the week, and try to discover real causes and real treatments.
I suspect that heart failure does not get the attention that cholesterol, diabetes, and hypertension do, is that the pharmaceutical companies haven’t found a way to get all heart failure patients on a drug for years.
What if carbs (even the ones the establishment now proclaims to be “good”) and the resulting insulin problems from eating carbs, are the real culprit? You won’t see that trumpeted from the rooftops, either. Nor will you hear that lowering blood sugar by means of drugs may do more harm than good.
It’s mostly about the money.
Posted by: Aggie | December 2, 2008, 11:32 am 11:32 am