People with heart failure, a condition where the organ cannot pump as much blood as it used to, are often told by doctors that a wide variety of treatments can help to remedy the situation.

But two studies cast doubt on some mainstream drug-based therapies, including a Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute study that found that in elderly patients, diuretics and digoxin may actually increase mortality.

Lifestyle-based treatments have shown promise in both preventing and treating heart failure, however.

A recent National Institutes of Health found that by adding cardiovascular exercise to other treatment options, patients were able to decrease the chances of returning to the hospital or dying from heart-related reasons by up to 15 percent.

Exercise can also act as a preventive option, if it leads to weight loss, as Dr Emily Levitan said in a study that “excess body weight was associated with higher rates of heart failure.”

Another option that may help limit the onset of heart failure is vitamin D supplementation, which University of Michigan researchers found to retard the progression of the disease.