Stiff Heart

this reply is from a "layman". my heart was beating at 130 when sitting and relaxed. needed medicines to correct this. was told by my doctor: when the heart beats that fast that constantly it will become stiff at a faster pace from the overuse and it will lead to a sooner demise. the medications work. hope i have presented this accurately. good luck.

Hi @brittalisse,

Here’s some basic information about heart failure to get you started: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heart-failure/basics/causes/con-20029801

I'd encourage you to view, and if you wish, join this conversation about stiff heart on Connect, https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/stiff-heart-diastolic-heart-failure/. I'm also tagging @pfazenbaker @evelyn247 @cynaburst and @bjanderson as they have written about it, and will certainly have more insight for you.

Clinical term for that is diastolic dysfunction, also known as heart failure. There is no cure. It basically means her body is wearing out. But people can live a long time -- many years -- with heart failure, though (I have it, my mother had it, my aunt had it). "Ejection fraction" is a key indicator about severity and prognosis, but a doctor will need to tell you her number and explain it to both of you. They can probably also tell you what stage she's in, 1-4.

Research Hawthorn (berries and leaves, not just one or the other -- Heart Care is one brand). Exercise -- walking? -- can help slow the progression if she's able. Good nutrition is important, too, but that's true for just about anything.

I beg to differ @soloact with your simplistic assertion that diastolic dysfunction is just plain heart failure. People who read that might accept it on faith and use it to make judgments about their health care choices and their chances of living on. My cardiologist told me something I believe is quite different. I developed atrial fibulation a few years ago. In a detailed discussion with my cardiologist last year, he told me that "a-fib is a classical definition of diastolic dysfunction." Your advice to @brittalisse to discuss the whole situation with a cardiologist is good advice. Not so with the suggestion that she treat herself with some plant-derived supplements.

I'm going merely by what my doctors have told me. I'm not a doctor, so I hope the moderator will delete my post (please) if I overstepped my boundaries or said something misleading.

I didn't find anything misleading. I have diastolic HF also and we are all responsible for our own healthcare. I wouldn't use any herbs,etc. before checking with my doctor. Hopefully, that's a given and you only made a suggestion.

This research report was published in March 2011. The research was based on patient records through 2005. It made no reference to atrial fibrillation, which was not a criterion for selection of patient records to include in the study.

My point was that diastolic dysfunction and atrial fib are not the same thing and that diastolic dysfunction is aka as heart failure and is serious. That was what I'd said that you'd questioned. But let's just drop it, please.

It's important that statements here are capable of being understood by the others who come to read them. What you said before and repeat now is at odds with what my cardiologist declared. To repeat, he said a-fib is the very definition of diastolic dysfunction. You responded by citing a research report that is based on data that are 12+ years old and written over six years ago. Members who read our discussion need to be advised to ask their own cardiologist whether testing and treatment technology has advanced in the last six years and whether their diagnosis of diastolic dysfunction is the equivalent of heart failure as you insist.