Congestive Heart Failure

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• published: 02 Nov 2015
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Congestive Heart Failure Congestive heart failure is sometimes simply called “heart failure”. It is the leading cause of hospitalization in people over 65 affecting about 670,000 Americans annually. Currently nearly 6 million persons in the United States have a diagnosis of heart failure. Heart failure doesn’t mean that the heart has “stopped” working, but, that its pumping ability is weaker than normal. With heart failure, the pressure in the heart increases because the blood moves through the heart and body at a slower rate. As this happens the chambers of the heart may slowly change by stretching to hold more blood to pump through the body or by becoming stiff and thickened. This helps to keep the blood moving for a while, but eventually the heart muscle walls become weakened and then unable to pump efficiently. The next thing that usually happens is the kidneys respond by causing the body to retain fluid (water) and salt. The body becomes congested as this fluid builds up in the arms, legs, ankles, feet, lungs, or other organs. This condition is described now as “congestive heart failure”. Congestive Heart Failure (CHF), is a usually a chronic illness that affects the chambers of the heart. There are four chambers in the heart. The upper half of the heart is known as the atria which is divided into 2 sides, the left and the right side, and the other lower half is the left and right ventricles. A healthy normal heart is a strong, muscular pump somewhat bigger than a clenched hand. It pumps blood continuously through the circulatory system. The right atria takes in deoxygenated blood from the systemic circulation and sends it back out to the lungs through the right ventricles where the blood gets to be oxygenated. Oxygenated blood leaves the lungs, travels to the left atrium, then on to the left ventricles, which pumps it to the systemic circulation to provide oxygen and nutrient rich blood to the different organs and tissues. The heart pumps blood to the lungs and to all the body’s different organs and tissues by a sequence of highly organized contractions of the four chambers. For the heart to function properly, the four chambers must beat in an organized way. With heart failure, the heart muscles becomes weak for various reasons, making the heart slowly lose the capacity to pump enough blood throughout the body to meet the body’s demand of oxygen and nutrients. As the heart’s pumping turns out to be less effective, blood may back up into different zones of the body. Fluid may build up in the lungs, liver, gastrointestinal tract, and the arms and legs. Thus, it is called Congestive Heart Failure (CHF). There are two fundamental issues in congestive heart failure: Systolic dysfunction – when the heart can’t pump enough blood supply to meet the body’s demand. Diastolic dysfunction – when the heart cannot accept all the blood being sent in. Sadly, many people suffer with both systolic and diastolic heart failure. Causes: CHF is often a chronic condition, yet it may come on all of a sudden. It can be brought about by various heart problems. The condition may affect just the right side or just the left half of the heart. But more often, both sides of the heart are involved. The most common causes of CHF are: Coronary artery disease (CAD) – a condition wherein cholesterol and other types of fatty substances blocks or narrows the arteries that supply the heart with blood. This can weaken the heart muscle over time or suddenly. High blood pressure – persistent/not well controlled/untreated hypertension forces the heart to pump against higher pressure, causing the heart muscles to weaken over time. Less common causes: Heart valves disease – heart valves that are not properly working by being too narrow or leaky Endocarditis or myocarditis – infection causing inflammation of the heart muscles Arrhythmias Heart attack Excessive use of alcohol or drugs Diabetes Being obese or overweight High blood cholesterol Heart muscle disease of unknown cause Kidney conditions that increases blood pressure and fluid buildup Other medical conditions such as thyroid diseases or anemia