Failure Of Congestive Heart Failure

Heart failure may convey that the heart isn’t working anymore, but what it really means is that the heart isn’t pumping as well as it should be (REF). Heart failure is a chronic, progressive condition in which the heart muscle is unable to pump enough blood through to meet the body’s needs for blood and oxygen (REF). At first, the heart tries to make up for this by enlarging, developing more muscle mass, and pumping faster. As this happens, the blood vessels narrow to keep blood pressure up and the body diverts blood away from less important tissues and organs to maintain flow to the heart and brain (REF). Eventually, the body and heart cannot keep up and the patient begins to feel fatigue, breathing problems, weight gain with swelling in the feet, legs, ankles or stomach, and other symptoms that eventually leads to a hospital visit. The body’s coping mechanisms give us better understanding on why many are unaware of their condition until years after the heart declines (REF).

Heart failure can be attributed to either right sided, left or both. Left-sided heart failure is of two types, systolic failure and diastolic failure. Systolic failure is the when the left ventricle loses its ability to contract normally. The heart cannot pump with enough force to push enough blood into circulation. Diastolic failure is when the left ventricle loses its ability to relax normally. Which results in the heart not being able to fill with blood during the resting period. Both result in a decrease in cardiac output. (AHA, 2012). A decrease in the cardiac output into the systemic circulation causes blood to accumulate in the left ventricle, left atrium, and pulmonary circulation. This increase

Congestive cardiac failure, also known as heart failure, occurs when the heart is weak and unable to sufficiently supply blood the body needs to function. Heart failure can often be successfully treated with

Heart Failure is a progressive heart disease when the muscle of the heart is weakened so that it cannot pump blood as it should; the blood backs up into the blood vessels around the lungs and the other parts of the body (NHS Choice, 2015). In heart failure, the heart is not able to maintain a normal range cardiac output to meet the metabolic needs of the body (Kemp and Conte, 2012). Heart failure is a major worldwide public health problem, it is the end stage of heart disease and it could lead to high mortality. At present, heart failure is usually associated with old age, given the dramatic increase in the population of older people (ACCF/AHA, 2013). In the USA, there are about 5.7 million adults who have heart failure, about half of the people die within 5 years of diagnosis, and it costs the nation an estimated $30.7 billion each year (ACCF/AHA, 2013).

When CHF starts to become worse, fluid can start to fill up in a person’s lungs and sometimes even throughout a person’s body. The fluid could cause a person to feel out of breath even while resting, swelling in the legs, ankles, or feet, weight gain, feeling bloated, and coughing, wheezing, and having to use the bathroom more at night. There is also a possibility that CHF can happen all of a sudden. When it starts to happen, it is called sudden heart failure. It will eventually cause congestion from fluid building up in the lungs. Symptoms can start to happen by having severe shortness of breath, an irregular or maybe even a fast heart beat and it may even cause coughing up foamy, pink mucus (Heart-Failure

Heart failure affects nearly 6 million Americans. It is the leading cause of hospitalization in people older than 65. Roughly 550,000 people are diagnosed with heart failure each year (Emory Healthcare, 2014). Heart failure is a pathologic state where the heart cannot pump enough blood to meet the demand of the body’s metabolic needs or when the ventricle’s ability to fill is impaired. It is not a disease, but rather a complex clinical syndrome. The symptoms of heart failure come from pulmonary vascular congestion and inadequate perfusion of the systemic circulation. Individuals experience orthopnea,

Congestive Heart Failure affects men and women equally, however African Americans are 1.5 times more likely to have Congestive Heart Failure than Caucasians ("Heart failure statistics," 2015). Congestive Heart Failure can affect people of any age; 1.4 million diagnosed Congestive Heart Failure patients are under 60 years old, 2% of Congestive Heart Failure diagnosed patients are between 40 to 59, and over 5% of people between 60 to 69 years old are diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure ("Heart failure statistics," 2015).Over half of the Congestive Heart Failure diagnosed patients die within 5 years of being diagnosed ("Heart failure statistics,"

Mr. Javier Escobar, U.S Army Veteran, 50-year-old Latino male and divorced claiming to “not having anyone in his life due to Combat Post Traumatic Stress Disorder”. Mr. Escobar is a newly patient diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure (CHF). Patient claims to smoke 1 pack of cigarettes a day, also the consumption of 1 bottle (750mls) per night of alcohol. Congestive Heart Failure is due to Chronic high blood pressure that puts great stress on the heart muscle. The muscle of the heart weakens and fails to push the normal amount of blood around the body leading to Congestive Heart Failure. There are multiple symptoms that could by identified before heart failure such as anxiety, restlessness, cyanotic (blue

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

In left-sided congestive heart failure the left ventricle weakens and cannot empty which results in decreased cardiac output to the system which in turn leads to pressure elevation in the left atrium and pulmonary vessels and capillaries, the ensuing decreased renal blood flow stimulates rennin-angiotensin and aldosterone secretion the resulting high pressure in the pulmonary capillaries leads to the exudation of fluid into the pulmonary interstitial tissue and alveoli which causes pulmonary congestion or edema. In right-sided congestive heart failure the right ventricle weakens and cannot empty which also results in decreased cardiac output and the secretion of rennin-angiotensin and aldosterone however, this leads to a backup of blood into the systemic circulation via the venae cavae. The increased venous pressure results in edema in the legs, liver and abdominal organs. (Tsai 2005)

Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) is a very common disease among the elderly. A healthy heart can pump blood to all parts of the body in a few seconds. When the heart is no longer able to do this, blood backs up into the lungs and other parts of

To understand the signs and symptoms of left-sided versus right-sided heart failure, remember that left-sided signs and symptoms are found in the lungs. Left begins with L, as does lung. Any signs and symptoms not related to the lungs are caused by right-sided failure (Williams and Hopper). Some signs and symptoms of heart failure are shortness of breath (dyspnea), fatigue, chronic cough or wheezing, rapid or irregular heartbeat, lack of appetite or nausea, mental confusion or impaired thinking, fluid buildup and swelling, and rapid weight gain, and the need to urinate more at night. In order to determine heart failure the physician will do a diagnostic test which includes a chest x-ray, echocardiogram, ejection fraction (EF), and electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG).

To diagnose congestive heart failure, the healthcare provider will examine the patient for edema, distended neck, crackles, difficulty with breathing or breathing that is fast, and abnormal heart sounds.

In right sided heart failure, fluid builds up in the veins and tissues, causing swelling of the lower extremities and the abdomen. When body tissues fail to get the oxygen and the nutrients they require, they begin to lose their efficiency, causing increased dizziness and fatigue.

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