Heart Failure-Other Treatment

Heart Failure - Other Treatment

Heart Failure Guide

• Topic Overview
• Health Tools
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Cause
• Symptoms
• What Increases Your Risk
• When to Call a Doctor
• Exams and Tests
• Treatment Overview
• Prevention
• Living With Heart Failure
• Coping With Your Feelings
• Medications
• Surgery
• Other Treatment
• Other Places To Get Help
• Related Information
• References
• Credits

Intra-aortic balloon pump

An intra-aortic balloon pump is sometimes used to help the heart pump more blood during sudden heart failure.

Supplements

Talk to your doctor before you take any over-the-counter medicine or supplement. They are used along with medical treatments for heart failure, not instead of treatment.

You may hear about supplements, vitamins, or hormones that might improve heart failure symptoms.

Fish oil (omega-3 fatty acid) supplements have been shown to help heart failure patients. In some studies, fish oilsupplements, taken along with other heart failure medicines, helped people stay out of the hospital and live longer.²

No other supplement, vitamin, or hormone has been shown definitely to relieve heart failure or help you live longer.

Examples include coenzyme Q10 and hawthorn.

• Only some of the studies of coenzyme Q10 showed that it helps heart failure symptoms.³
• Hawthorn is an herb that is sometimes used in Europe and Asia to try to increase blood flow to the heart.