Every minute in this country, two people are hospitalized for heart failure.
Blacks are at a much higher risk and are affected at an earlier age by the condition more than any other race.
Michele N., 63, leads a busy life as a business manager, a recovery support group leader, and an active member of her church.
In 2016, she started experiencing swelling in her legs and shortness of breath. She went to a physician for what she thought were allergies and asthma.
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But the symptoms worsened, and soon Michele wasn’t able to walk to her car after work without help from a coworker or taking breaks.
Her physician referred her to a cardiologist, and, after an echocardiogram, Michele was diagnosed with a chronic type of heart failure.
Having lost her mother 12 years earlier to heart failure, she was terrified to hear her diagnosis.
But Michele’s cardiologist prescribed medication for heart failure, and, while treatment impacts everyone differently, she is back to her activities and has not been hospitalized for the condition, which drives approximately 900,000 to the hospital each year.
