Yogic breathing, social media and artificial intelligence, all to feature at major European conference on heart failure

A major European conference on heart failure which is due to take place later this month, will hear that there is a low awareness of heart failure among the public, with almost half wrongly believing that heart failure is normal in old age.

Surveys to be presented at the annual congress of the Heart Failure Association (HFA), a branch of the European Society of Cardiology, which takes place in Athens, Greece from 25 to 28 May, will reveal other myths about heart failure.

These include that one in five members of the public said patients should avoid exercise, while just over half of patients knew that exercise can be a treatment for their disease.

A number of new research findings on a range of heart failure topics will be presented during the event including: ‘You are what you eat: diet, gut microbes, and heart failure outcomes, how yogic breathing is being used in chronic heart failure and do women and men need different doses of heart failure drugs?’

The world’s leading heart failure congress is expected to attract around 6,000 cardiologists, cardiac nurses, surgeons, general physicians, scientists, and epidemiologists from more than 100 countries. The latest advances in prevention and treatment for heart failure will be discussed in more than 175 sessions across four days.

The conference will also include a session on technology which will look at mobile applications for heart failure management, and the role of social media. The use of big data, artificial intelligence, and wearable devices for monitoring patients with heart failure will also be discussed.

Developments in lifestyle including alcohol, tobacco, diet, weight control, sodium restriction, exercise, and sex life are also on the agenda for the conference.

The congress theme is: “Heart failure: from alpha to omega”.

Professor Gerasimos Filippatos, scientific chair, said: “Based on the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, the theme illustrates that the meeting will cover the entire heart failure journey, from prevention through to palliative and end of life care.”

A low level of awareness of heart failure was also found in a recent survey of Irish adults for the Irish Heart Foundation’s new heart failure awareness campaign ‘Don’t Ignore the Signs of Heart Failure’. This survey found that almost half mistakenly believed that heart failure means that the heart stops beating, confusing the condition with a cardiac arrest.

The Irish Heart Foundation’s heart failure awareness campaign, which is supported by Novartis, aims to educate the public about the warning signs of the condition.

As part of the campaign, the Irish Heart Foundation has developed a free online symptom checker to help people identify if they are experiencing heart failure symptoms.

The heart failure symptom checker is available on the campaign website, KnowYourHeart.ie; people can use the checker and download their findings to help them discuss any concerns they may have with their GP.