A physician may prescribe digitalis to help the heart pump better. It has not been proven to improve survival, but it does relieve exertional symptoms and reduce hospital admissions for heart failure, Kfoury said.

Patients can also be infused with intravenous drugs, which make the heart beat stronger and patients feel better. But those can also increase risk of cardiac death from a bad rhythm.

There are mechanical options for patients with more severe heart failure. Implantable pacemakers and defibrillators have been shown to work well with the medications to save lives. Heart-assist pumps like the left ventricle assist device (LVAD) and even the total artificial heart help. But the best hope for people with severe heart failure is a heart transplant.

Unfortunately, Kfoury said, the number of hearts available for transplant does not begin to approach the need.

There are other treatments on the horizon, Kfoury said, including stem cell therapy and genetic manipulation, "but that is still within the research realm. It's likely it will not translate into clinical applications for at least another decade."

Heart failure is very serious and can kill, but the diagnosis is not an automatic death sentence, Whipple said. There are things a patient can do to live quite well with the disease.

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Saturday call-in starts at 10 a.m.

Saturday's Deseret Morning News/Intermountain Health Care Hotline focuses on heart failure. Dr. A. G. Kfoury, cardiologist and medical director of the LDS Hospital heart transplant program, advanced practice registered nurse Judith Sampson and Amy Whipple, clinical cardiac transplant nurse coordinator, both from the hospital's heart failure program, will be featured on the Deseret Morning News/Intermountain Health Care Hotline. From 10 a.m. to noon, they'll take phoned-in questions about heart failure, prevention, treatments and how to recognize symptoms. The toll-free number is 1-800-925-8177.

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Saturday: Living with heart failure

E-mail: lois@desnews.com