The Prevention of Heart Failure

Joint Session with American Heart Association to Focus on Strategies to Prevent the Disease

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Sep 22, 2013, 12:00 ET

ORLANDO, Fla., Sept. 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The 17^th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Heart Failure Society of America (HFSA) will feature a session today entitled "The Prevention of Heart Failure." The session is being presented by HFSA and the American Heart Association.

Dr. Jay Cohn, Professor of Medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School, will discuss the abnormalities of the arteries and the heart that result in cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality. Dr. Cohn explains that these abnormalities can be detected years before people become sick.

"By detecting these abnormalities, we can identify individuals who will develop not only heart failure, but all cardiovascular diseases," said Dr. Cohn. "Our emphasis should be on detection and individualized treatment to prevent cardiovascular disease as a cause of sickness and death."

In addition to Dr. Cohn, the session will feature several other practitioners who will discuss screening for the risk of heart failure, the progression of heart failure and medical therapies to prevent heart failure.

For a complete list of annual meeting sessions or for details on attending the conference, call (617) 226-7193 or visit www.hfsa.org and click on Annual Scientific Meeting. There is also an app for the Annual Meeting available in the Apple Store by searching HFSA. There is no registration fee for accredited journalists. Interview areas will be available on-site in addition to a press room. You may follow news from the meeting on Twitter @HFSA and #HFSA.

About Heart Failure
Heart failure is a progressive condition in which the heart muscle becomes weakened after it is injured, most commonly from heart attack or high blood pressure, and gradually loses its ability to pump enough blood to supply the body's needs. Many people are not aware they have heart failure because the symptoms are often mistaken for signs of getting older. Heart failure affects 4.6 to 4.8 million individuals in the United States. Demographic and clinical evidence strongly suggests that the prevalence of heart failure will increase throughout the next decade. Ten to 15 years ago heart failure was considered a "death sentence;" however, recent advances in treatment have shown that early diagnosis and proper care in early stages of the condition are key to slowing, stopping or in some cases reversing progression, improving quality of life, and extending life expectancy. For more information on heart failure, please visit www.abouthf.org.

About the Heart Failure Society of America
The Heart Failure Society of America (HFSA) is a nonprofit educational organization, founded in 1994 as the first organized association of heart failure experts. The HFSA provides a forum for all those interested in heart function, heart failure research and patient care. The Society also serves as a resource for governmental agencies (FDA, NIH, NHLBI, CMS). The HFSA Annual Scientific Meeting is designed to highlight recent advances in the development of strategies to address the complex epidemiological, clinical and therapeutic issues of heart failure. Additional information on HFSA can be found at www.hfsa.org.

SOURCE Heart Failure Society of America