How Does Heart Disease Affect Your Senior?
Getting a diagnosis of heart disease can be scary for your senior. There may be some changes that occur in her life to help her to manage her heart disease, and it’s important to know what she might expect.
Risk Factors for Heart Disease
There are a huge range of risk factors that can contribute to heart disease. A family history is one risk factor that your senior needs to pay close attention to, because that can overpower even the best of lifestyle habits. If your senior already has other health issues, such as diabetes, those can contribute to her risk of developing heart disease. It’s important that your senior talks to her doctor to fully understand all of the risk factors she’s facing in terms of heart disease.
Symptoms of Heart Disease
The symptoms your senior experiences with heart disease may vary depending on the types of health issues she’s facing, the severity of her heart disease, and so much more. Some of the symptoms that might impact her quality of life the most can include:
- Dizziness
- Chest pain or palpitations
- Abdominal pain
- Fatigue
- Shortness of breath
- Weight gain
- Edema
Many of these symptoms have a big impact on her overall quality of life. Your senior’s doctor can help her to put together a plan that helps to manage symptoms. Much of that plan may be easier to implement with the help of heart care at home.
Coping with Heart Disease
Over time, most seniors find that heart disease gets worse rather than better. Learning to cope with the impact of heart disease is something that might take a little time to master. With the help of home health care services, your elderly family member can get assistance with aspects of her life and her health that have become more difficult. Home health care can open the door to lifestyle remedies that can help, like physical therapy.
Treatments and Other Concerns
Regular follow-up appointments with her doctor are likely to be a big part of your senior’s life as her heart disease progresses. She may also find that she takes a variety of medications and needs to do things like keep track of her blood pressure or other vital signs. Heart care at home can help you and your elderly family member to keep up with all of this on a regular basis, while also helping to connect with your senior’s doctor and make sure everyone has updated information.
Heart disease might not be something that your senior can completely reverse, but it’s possible to put tools in place that help her to manage her health in the most helpful way for her.