New way to tell heart failure prognosis

Heart Failure causes more damage than you think
Heart Failure causes more damage than you think (Photo credit: Novartis AG)

Just a quickie on a new method for determining prognosis for heart failure patients. This study shows that measuring how the heart metabolizes energy can give docs a better way to predict who’s going to have a rough time of it and who will do better with heart failure.

Using a non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique, researchers at Johns Hopkins found they could predict clinical outcomes for heart failure very well – independent of the patient’s symptoms or the actual pumping strength of the heart.

“Having a more precise way to determine a patient’s risk would enable us to identify high-risk people earlier and tailor their treatments more specifically,” according to Robert Weiss, senior author of the study.

“And with a new target – impaired energy metabolism – we can also open the door to developing and testing new therapies for heart failure.”

Wonder how this correlates with the new studies indicating exercise that’s more strenuous (relatively speaking) looks to be beneficial for heart failure patients. Does more vigorous exercise improve the heart’s ability to metabolize energy? Sounds good to me.

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