Heart failure

About heart failure

Heart failure (sometimes shortened to HF) is a condition where your heart is unable to pump blood around the body as well as it should.¹ This can happen because the heart has become too weak or stiff. Heart failure is a long-term condition that tends to get slowly worse over time; however, the symptoms can often be controlled for many years.²

Heart failure can be caused by a number of different problems with the heart, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, or problems with the heart’s valves. The symptoms of heart failure may include breathlessness (either during exercise or at rest), ankle swelling or fatigue.^1,2

Although there is no cure for heart failure, there are ways to help your heart work more effectively, such as lifestyle changes and medicines.^1,2

Novartis recognises that identifying heart failure at an early stage and improving patients’ quality of life are important. We are committed to raising awareness about the impact of heart failure and driving momentum to improve care for the almost one million people in the UK living with this debilitating condition. We believe more can be done to improve patient outcomes, reduce the risk of hospital admissions and lower the rate of mortality.

Learn more about the work Novartis is
doing to support people with heart failure >