Featuring Dr. Daniel Ngui, BSc (P.T), MD, CFPC, FCFP

Video Title: Heart Disease Treatment and Management Duration: 2 minutes, 3 seconds

The key member of your team that will help you manage your heart failure is your family physician.

He or she will either sit down, and speak to you or refer you to a nurse or a pharmacist to review your options. With regard to what family physicians are doing, it’s very important, once again, that you have continuity of care. We encourage two visits per year to your physician to monitor your medications and ensure your lab tests are up-to-date.

Your physician will sit down with you, and teach you the principles of self-management. Some techniques we use are monitoring of several parameters include weighing yourself before breakfast to keep in the ideal weight zone, and alarm for us if you gain five pounds in a week or four pounds in two or three days.

It’s important that you limit your fluid intake to six to eight cups per day if you have heart failure or all types of fluids. That’s approximate equal to one-and-a-half to two liters of fluid per day.

Importantly, to avoid overloading your heart, we like to avoid salt in our diet for patients with heart failure, and we recommend taking medications regularly. Exercising regularly, avoiding alcohol and smoking are important aspects to keep you in the safe zone, and your family physician and your nurse or pharmacist can teach you about congestive heart failure self-management and action plans.

Once again, since heart failure is sometimes difficult and challenging to diagnose, nothing can replace the one-on-one relationship you have with your physician. He or she can send you to the right team members so you understand how you can manage your heart failure in any instance, and it may take more than one visit.

If you have any questions or any concerns, it’s very important that you make an appointment to speak to your physician or local expert. Treatments vary according to patient and according to physician, so once again, make an appointment and speak to your doctor.

Presenter: Dr. Daniel Ngui, Family Doctor, Vancouver, BC

Local Practitioners: Family Doctor