Of all treatment for broken compensation or dilated heart, nothing
equals rest in bed. Sometimes it is the only treatment that is
needed. The rigidness of this rest, the length of time that it
should endure, and the period at which relaxation of such rest
should be allowed depend entirely on the individual patient; no rule
can be established. Most of the symptoms must disappear before
exercise is allowed. Perhaps a not infrequent exception to the rule
is when cardiac weakness, generally a inyocarditis, develops in a
patient after 50. It is not always wise to keep such a patient in
bed; he may be rested and his exercise greatly restricted, but
sometimes it is difficult to get him out of bed if he is kept there
any length of time.
Fresh air, sunlight and anything else that makes the bedroom
attractive and cheerful are essential and will aid in the recovery.
The kind of nurse that is needed, trained, untrained, or a member of
the family, and the amount of company or entertainment allowed must
be decided for the individual patient. The patient must be
distinctly individualized and the proper measures taken to give
mental and physical rest, to prevent excitement, worry, melancholia
and depression, and to improve the general nutrition of the body as
well as the condition of the heart.
Each occurrence of broken compensation in valvular disease causes
another attack of cardiac weakness to occur with less excuse than
before, and several serious attacks of broken compensation mean
before long the loss of the heart muscle's ability to recover, so
that permanent dilatation occurs.