What should I do about swollen feet caused by rheumatic heart disease?

Written by Zhang Yue Mei
Cardiology
Updated on February 23, 2025
00:00
00:00

Patients with rheumatic heart disease who experience swelling in their feet usually suffer from heart failure. First and foremost, it is important to rest and avoid excessive exertion to alleviate the burden on the heart, ensuring adequate sleep and relaxation, maintaining a pleasant mood, consuming easily digestible foods, and following a low-fat, low-salt diet, particularly avoiding high-sodium foods. Eating foods high in sodium can lead to water and sodium retention, which increases the burden on the heart and worsens swelling. In severe cases, it is necessary to use effective diuretic medications under the guidance of a doctor to reduce the cardiac load and eliminate fluid retention.

Other Voices

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Chen Tian Hua
Cardiology
1min home-news-image

What to do about reduced urine output in the late stage of rheumatic heart disease?

Patients with rheumatic heart disease who experience oliguria in the late stage should consider the possibility of heart failure as the cause. Due to heart failure leading to a decrease in cardiac output, renal blood perfusion is reduced, which in turn causes symptoms of oliguria. Additionally, if the patient also has renal function impairment, it will further exacerbate the symptoms of oliguria. It is important for patients with rheumatic heart disease who experience symptoms of oliguria to seek medical attention promptly and receive active treatment as soon as possible. Medications to control heart failure should be administered to increase the heart's contractility and cardiac output, improve renal perfusion, and diuretics should be given to increase urine output. With heart failure under control, the patient's condition can be alleviated. For patients with rheumatic heart disease, if there are indications for surgery, timely surgical treatment should be provided.

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Di Zhi Yong
Cardiology
52sec home-news-image

Do people with rheumatic heart disease need to take medication regularly?

Patients with rheumatic heart disease should also maintain a light diet, especially avoiding spicy and irritating foods. It is important to monitor changes in heart rate, blood pressure, and pulse. If the heart rate is too fast or the blood pressure is high, it may sometimes be necessary to use medication for early intervention. Rheumatic heart disease mainly manifests as chest tightness and difficulty breathing, and sometimes it can also present as swelling of the lower limbs. With active treatment, these symptoms can normally be alleviated. It is also important to monitor changes in heart rate and pulse regularly. If there are any incidents or difficulty in breathing, it is necessary to go to the hospital for treatment. During this period, it is still important to educate patients to regularly and routinely take oral medications to improve heart function, which is beneficial.

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Di Zhi Yong
Cardiology
48sec home-news-image

What should I do if rheumatic heart disease causes excessive sweating?

If patients frequently experience heart murmurs in the precordial area due to rheumatic heart disease, accompanied by palpitations, chest tightness, and sweating, it is recommended to treat with infusion therapy and use medication to control the patient's heart function. If the patient's heart function is corrected, the symptoms of sweating will also be alleviated or relieved. It is advised that patients visit a cardiology department and choose hospitalization to improve their symptoms. After treatment, long-term and regular oral medication is still needed, as this disease is prone to recurrence. Regular hospital visits for electrocardiograms and echocardiograms are also necessary. If the symptoms are severe, sometimes surgical treatment may be recommended to relieve the current sweating symptoms.

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Di Zhi Yong
Cardiology
50sec home-news-image

What should I do if I have dizziness and nausea due to rheumatic heart disease?

If a patient with rheumatic heart disease experiences dizziness, fatigue, nausea, and vomiting, these symptoms require active management. The current treatment for rheumatic heart disease primarily focuses on symptomatic treatment. It also involves the use of medications that improve heart function and reduce cardiac load. This helps in controlling heart rate, blood pressure, and pulse changes, thereby alleviating symptoms. If a patient presents with dizziness, nausea, and vomiting, it could sometimes be due to insufficient cerebral arterial blood supply or ischemic cerebrovascular disease. In such cases, a head CT scan should be performed for a more definitive diagnosis. Treatment may include the use of vasodilators and other medications to improve circulation and provide symptomatic relief.

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Xie Zhi Hong
Cardiology
54sec home-news-image

What should I do if rheumatic heart disease catches a cold?

Patients with rheumatic heart disease, if they find they have caught a cold, should go to the hospital for an examination as soon as possible, including blood tests and an electrocardiogram. If a viral infection is suspected, antiviral treatment should be administered promptly. If a bacterial infection is suspected, antibiotics should be given promptly to control the infection. This can prevent the cold from turning into a lower respiratory tract infection or pneumonia. Because if a cold is not treated in time, it often can trigger an episode of heart failure in patients with rheumatic heart disease and can also lead to a further aggravation of rheumatic disease. Therefore, patients with rheumatic heart disease should prevent infections, and the use of long-acting penicillin once a month is very necessary.