The symptoms of advanced heart failure are debilitating.

Any kind of exertion results in rapid onset of fatigue and shortness of breath. Even simple tasks like washing the dishes or walking a block can leave you exhausted.

Today’s heart-failure patients are prescribed multiple drugs that yield important benefits. Yet as their heart deteriorates, they are often restricted to a bed, couch, or wheelchair.

Americans are living longer and surviving early-life cardiac events via improvements in prevention and treatment. These include stenting procedures to open blocked coronary arteries, along with greater use of blood tests to identify risk factors before acute heart attack manifests.