Heart disease requires extra careful care, and special attention must be paid to diet, life, and exercise. Depending on the type of heart disease, such as cardiovascular disease, myocardial disease, valvular heart disease, etc., patients need to guard against and pay attention to different symptoms. If you have a heart disease patient in your family and you are the sole caregiver, this can be a challenging task. Because being a caregiver involves not only managing the patient’s medications and daily activities, but also providing emotional support.

This article lists 4 suggestions to help you, as a caregiver, understand how to care for patients with heart disease.

How to care for patients with heart disease? Pay attention to the following 4 points and you’ll be fine

1 .Help patients with heart disease eat a balanced diet

The diet for heart disease is mainly low in sugar, low in sodium and low in fat. First of all, you must stay away from fatty and fried foods as these are the main causes of heart disease. Use unprocessed lean meat as the patient’s main source of protein to reduce body fat accumulation, and avoid high-fat proteins such as fried foods, sausages, bacon, whole milk, dairy products, animal offal, fatty meats and frozen meats ( Also known as frost meat), etc. At the same time, pay more attention to the patient’s salt intake. Patients with heart disease are not suitable for overly salty foods, because salt will make the blood thicker, making the heart have to work harder to supply blood, leading to heart attacks. In addition, it is recommended to eat less refined starches such as cookies, donuts and snacks and replace them with whole grain foods rich in dietary fiber, minerals and other nutrients. Refined starches have fewer nutrients and often contain trans fats and high amounts of sodium and sugar, which are very bad for heart disease patients.

How to care for patients with heart disease? 4 key points to watch out for new symptoms

2.Encourage patients with heart disease to continue exercising

Patients sometimes refuse exercise because they worry that it will put too much strain on their heart. In fact, being active is the only way to keep your heart healthy. As a caregiver at home, you should work with your heart patient to consult with your physician to find exercises that are suitable for your patient.

Generally speaking, patients with heart disease can start with light exercise, such as aerobic exercise such as walking, brisk walking, jogging, swimming or cycling, and try to avoid highly anaerobic exercise, such as heavy training and sprinting. As exercise habits are gradually established, cardiopulmonary capacity gradually improves, and then the intensity of exercise is gradually increased. As a caregiver, you can also follow the patient’s exercise and support with practical actions, which is also very beneficial to physical health. In addition to exercise, patients should continue to do the things they enjoyed doing in the past. Caregivers can help. Going out with family or friends is also important to maintaining health.

3. Assist heart disease patients with medication management

Family caregivers are not suitable for direct management of medications, which should be the responsibility of the patients themselves. However, caregivers can buy pill storage boxes for patients, which are not only clearly classified and easy to carry, but also avoid taking the wrong amount.

At the same time, write down any medications that the patient may be taking, and carry this list with you. It can be used as a reference for the doctor when accompanying the patient to see a doctor. Because some patients seek treatment in different clinics for different problems, list the medications that the patient is currently taking. It helps doctors to prescribe and avoid some drugs that cannot be taken at the same time.

Assist heart disease patients with medication management

4. Warning signs of new heart disease symptoms

People with heart disease are more likely to ignore new symptoms, such as chest pain, dizziness or swelling, which may be warning signs. For example, people suffering from cardiac arrest may experience difficulty breathing, gastrointestinal discomfort and shoulder pain. In addition, caregivers must watch for signs of recurrent arrhythmias, such as atrial fibrillation. These warning signs are often the key to saving the patient. The earlier the patient receives treatment, the higher the chance of cure.

Being a caregiver is stressful, and sometimes the responsibility can be physically exhausting and make you want to give up on your health. But please remember, before taking care of others, you must also maintain your health. If you are tired, please take a good rest. When in need, please be brave enough to ask others for help. You can also use your faith to help patients, family members and caregivers overcome difficulties. Taking care of a patient is a long journey, and caregivers need to maintain the best physical and mental condition in order to accompany the patient for a long time.
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