Abnormal heart rhythms and palpitations

What you can expect:

After a heart attack, a patient may develop a slow or abnormal heart rhythm, or he may be at risk for developing one. The abnormal heart rate may improve as the heart muscle heals, or it may be permanent.

What you can do:

• Palpitations are the most common symptom of arrhythmia. If the patient is experiencing palpitations, notify his doctor immediately in case treatment is necessary.
• Try not to panic. Palpitations can result from too much caffeine, tobacco, and even some over-the-counter medications such as cold and cough remedies. Stress can also be a culprit -- and the person you're caring for has been through an extremely stressful experience.
• Learn CPR. Some arrhythmias show up as cardiac arrest, when the heart suddenly stops pumping. By promptly applying CPR, you can keep a patient alive until an emergency medical team arrives. Courses in CPR are available in virtually every city in the United States. Ask his doctor or nurses for information, or contact a local branch of the American Heart Association or the American Red Cross.

Congestive heart failure

What you can expect:

In some cases, a heart attack may damage the heart muscle so much that it can't fully recover. If a patient's heart can no longer adequately pump blood, he may experience shortness of breath, edema (buildup of fluids), and coughing. In some cases, heart failure can improve as the heart muscle heals, but more often the condition is permanent.

What you can do:

• Don't panic. Although the term "heart failure" may sound like a death sentence, what it means is that the heart isn't pumping efficiently enough to keep up with the body's needs. But with the proper treatment and lifestyle changes, people with heart failure can lead relatively active lives for many years.
• Talk to the doctor about lifestyle changes. The person in your care will need to limit his intake of salt, fluids, and alcohol; exercise lightly; and quit smoking.
• Discuss medications with the doctor. Several drugs are useful in treating heart failure. Among other medications, the doctor may prescribe diuretics and/or aldosterone blockers to reduce fluid buildup, digitalis to help the heart contract more vigorously, or ACE inhibitors to make it easier for the heart to pump.