Congestive Heart Failure (CHF)

Symptoms of congestive heart failure consist of fatigue, dependent edema, fluid build-up in the lungs, increase in urination because of the extra fluid, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and decreased appetite (Fundukian, 2011).  Diagnosis of CHF is done first by physical examination, such as heart rate, and heart sounds or murmurs. If a physician believes more tests are needed, common ones include an electrocardiogram or chest x-ray to detect previous heart attacks, arrhythmia, or heart enlargement, and echocardiogram using ultrasound to image the heart muscle, valves, and blood flow patterns. The physician may also want to do a heart catheterization, to allow the arteries of the heart to be visualized using angiography. Upon getting a diagnosis of CHF, the physician will usually start with asking the patient to change things in their diet, such going to a low sodium diet. They may also want to prescribe medications. Types of medications could include angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, which block formation of angiotensin II hormone, angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB) to block the action of angiotensin II at the receptor site, and diuretics, just to name a few (Fundukian, 2011).

Nearly 5.1 million people in the United States have been diagnosed with heart failure. Yet so many people don’t have a clue what it is until they have been diagnosed with it. Congestive Heart Failure, or CHF, is a disease that has many symptoms, can be tested and treated, has several causes, and can be avoided.

Patient is a high school counselor. He participates in physical activities by running 2 to 3 times a week, playing golf, and volunteering at a nursing home. The patient is married with one daughter and one son. He does not use tobacco and periodically drinks at

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Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) patients and their consistent trending of hospital re-admissions continue to threaten quality care and patient quality of life. Considered a chronic condition, CHF is diagnosed in approximately 13% of patients 85 or older (Clarke, Shah & Sharma, 2011). Re-admissions have become so prevalent among the CHF populations, that Centers for Medicare has initiated a quality campaign and offers incentives when hospitals implement telemedicine programs and show reduction in CHF hospital admissions. In relation to CHF, Conway, Inglis, and Clark (2014) states that, “Telemedicine involves transmission of physiological data, such as weight, … from the measuring device to a central server via telephonic, satellite,

Congestive heart failure is a chronic condition that is responsible for the highest number of hospitalizations among adults. Readmission rates after hospitalization also remain high, with 50% of patients being readmitted within 6 months of discharge. (Desai & Stevenson, 2012). The Affordable Care Act penalizes hospitals with readmissions within 30 days after discharge, making readmissions a focus of hospitals nationwide. Several factors including discharge planning, patient education, diet restrictions, and early follow up appointments can help to reduce readmissions, but continuous monitoring is necessary to catch early signs of decompensation. (Desai & Stevenson, 2012).

Congestive Heart Failure is when the heart's pumping power is weaker than normal. It does not mean the heart has stopped working. The blood moves through the heart and body at a slower rate, and pressure in the heart increases. This means; the heart cannot pump enough oxygen and nutrients to meet the body's needs. The chambers of the heart respond by stretching to hold more blood to pump through the body or by becoming more stiff and thickened. This only keeps the blood moving for a short while. The heart muscle walls weaken and are unable to pump as strongly. This makes the kidneys respond by causing the body to retain fluid and sodium. When the body builds up with fluids, it becomes congested. Many conditions can cause heart

Heart failure (HF) is defined as a multifaceted clinical syndrome that can result from any structural or functional cardiac disorder that impairs the ability of the ventricle to fill with or eject blood. In HF, the heart may not provide tissues with adequate blood for metabolic needs, and cardiac-related elevation of pulmonary or systemic venous pressures may result in organ congestion1. In the United States, HF is increasing in incidence with about 5.1 million people suffering from HF and half of people who develop HF die within 5years 2. Over 75% of existing and new cases occurred in individuals over 65 years of age, < 1% in individuals below 60 years, nearly 10% in those over 80 years of age. HF costs the

"All I Heard Was Congestive Heart Failure. What Does That Mean? Is She Going To Die? " "He Is Trying to Explain It -But

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a type of cardiovascular diseases. CHF occurs when the efficiency of pumping the blood in the heart is decreased, which means it can no longer function properly. CHF is a prevalent disease, according to CDC, "About 5.7 million adults in the United States have heart failure" [1]. People with CHF may experience wheezing or persistent coughing, nausea, which is a lack of appetite, increased heart palpitations, and shortness of breath that is also named dyspnea. CHF has four stages, each one describes the risk factors, symptoms of CHF, and structural disorder. The stages of CHF disease sometimes can be treated. However, if CHF is not treated from the early signs, it will develop from one stage to another until

As I read pages 366-367, I understood the pain that Joe was going through. On September 2002 Joe’s wife died of Congestive heart failure. In paragraph 2 on page 366 it reads ‘’He and she were sharing a room at a skilled nursing facility at the time –he recovering from a fractured pelvis and she dying from congestive heart failure and kidney failure. The staff had with uncommon compassion, pushed their beds together so they could hold hands, and that’s how Joyce died .A few days later, Joe went to the memorial service. Then he returned to the room, alone again for the first time in sixty-three years.

N.L. has history of constipation and fecal impaction several years ago. Patient also has history of Diabetes Mellitus type 2 for 9 years, Hypertension for 15 years, and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) for 5 years. Patient has also had laparoscopic appendectomy 5 years ago for erupted appendicitis and total hysterectomy 3 years ago due to uterine fibroids. N.L. smoked half a pack of cigarettes for 20 years and recently cut down to 2 cigarettes per day. N.Ll also drinks alcohol occasionally, approximately 2 drinks per month.

Heart failure (HF) is a pathological condition that impairs the ability of the heart to keep up with the metabolic demands of the body, resulting in multi-organ abnormalities and eventually death1, 2. This can result from conditions that reduce the ability of heart to pump blood which include decreased contractility of myocardium secondary to reduced coronary perfusion, structural causes like damaged heart valves, cardiac muscle or pericardial diseases etc.3 The understanding of the mechanistic details that drive the progression of heart failure is not well understood but molecular and cellular changes point towards the role of neuro-hormonal activation and ventricular remodeling as primary determinants.4 The sequential and progressive upregulation of renin-angiotensin aldosterone system, increased levels of norepinephrine and endothelin-1 play a significant role in the progression of LV dysfunction. Coronary artery disease (CAD), dDiabetes, and hHypertension are among the leading causes whereas other factors such as genetic, alcohol abuse, infectious myocarditis, chemotherapeutic agents etc. also account for significant number of cases.5, 6 The symptoms of decompensated HF are very non-specific (shortness of breath, fatigue, weakness, etc.) and need evaluation in the context of the overall clinical picture, which includes signs like extremity edema, jugular venous distention, S3).5, 7 Tests like BNP, ECG, CXR, echocardiography, C-MRI allow confirmation of the

With respect to his family history, his mother is diabetic and his father died of IHD at 50 years of age. The patient is a social drinker and an ex smoker with a pack year history of 20, quitting 6 months ago.

The patient that stimulated the interest in this subject was a 57-year-old male admitted with an acute exacerbation of COPD. The patient also had a history of hypertension, pulmonary embolism, and deep vein thrombosis. The patient is a smoker as well as his family. He has had many problems with trying smoking cessation for years. The patient also has a history of depression and anxiety. The patient has been on many medications to control his hypertension, but it is still out of the normal range. This man was in great need of nonpharmacological intervention and education.