Most Common Symptoms Of 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).

The prevalence of congestive heart failure is on the increase both in the United States and all over the world, and it is the leading cause of hospitalization in the elderly population. Congestive heart failure is a progressive disease generally seen in the elderly, which if not properly managed, can lead to repeated hospital admissions or death. Heart failure means that the heart muscle is weakened. A weakened heart muscle may not be strong enough to pump an adequate amount of blood out of its chambers. To compensate for its diminished pumping capacity, the heart may enlarge. Commonly, the heart's pumping inefficiency causes a buildup of blood in the

There are many causes for heart failure. The most common cause is coronary heart disease (Moore and Roth, 2015). CHD is a disease in which the coronary arteries are blocked, preventing the heart muscles from getting the oxygenated blood they need. Heart failure can be caused by other present or past conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, abnormal heart valves, diseased heart muscle, irregular heartbeats, heart defects, serious lung disease, poisons or substance abuse, and sleep apnea (Heart Failure Overview).

Congestive Heart Failure, also known as "cardiac decompensation, cardiac insufficiency, and cardiac incompetence," (Basic Nursing 1111) is an imbalance in pump function in which the heart is failing and unable to do its work pumping enough blood to meet the needs of the body's other organs. To some people, heart failure is defined as a sudden and complete stoppage of heart activity—i.e. that the heart just stops beating. This is an inaccuracy. Heart failure usually develops slowly, often over years, as the heart gradually loses its pumping ability and works less efficiently. CHF is a syndrome that affects individuals in different ways and to different degrees. It is usually a chronic disease. It gradually

Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) is defined as a serious heart condition that prevents the heart from providing adequate blood flow to other parts of the body, causing a buildup of fluids in organs such as the lungs and kidneys (Heart Disease and Congestive Heart Failure). This heart condition affects approximately 670,000 people a year and is one of the leading causes of death for older people (Heart Disease and Congestive Heart Failure). Congestive heart failure, a chronic heart condition, manifests itself by causing fatigue, shortness of breath and edema; consequently, the treatments are basic and there remains no cure.

Congestive heart hailure, also known as CHF or heart failure, affects the lives of 5 million Americans each year with 550,000 new cases diagnosed yearly. (Emory healthcare, 2013) CHF is a medical condition in which the heart has become weak and cannot pump enough blood to meet the need for oxygen rich blood required by the vital organs of the body, less blood is pumped out of the heart to the organs and tissues in the body and pressure in the heart increases, it does not mean the heart has stopped working. (Murphy, 2013) Once the heart has become weakened by conditions such as hypertension, abnormal heart

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

The body needs a certain amount of cardiac output to maintain its basic functions. In congestive heart failure the body needs more output than the heart can put out. To make up for the lack of cardiac output, the heart sends all of its output to the essential organs such as the brain and lungs. It neglects to send as much blood to the extremities. This is why in congestive heart failure patents, edema is usually present. Fatigue results from the heart having to work extra hard to send blood to only a few essential organs. This is why fatigue is considered the first symptom of congestive heart failure. Congestive Heart Disease can happen on either side of the heart, or it can effect both sides. When the heart cannot keep up with what the body needs capillary pressure increases. When this capillary pressure increases it causes sodium to build up, and the body does not excrete the

Signs and symptoms of congestive heart failure can range from mild to severe. They also can be associated with many other disease processes making congestive heart failure harder to diagnose. Even most doctors have to run numerous amounts of tests to confirm the diagnosis without 100% certainty. Patients may present with shortness of breath, rales (fluid in lungs), peripheral or pulmonary edema, dizziness, fatigue, dyspnea on exertion, rapid and excess weight gain, jugular venous distention, reduced ejection fraction, severe hypertension or hypotension, and failed stress tests (Drug Store News, 1997). These symptoms are not specific enough for a clear diagnosis so additional testing is usually

Congestive heart failure describes the inability or failure (chronic, progressive condition) of the heart to adequately meet the needs of organs and tissues for oxygen and nutrients. This decrease in cardiac output, the amount of blood that the heart pumps, is not adequate to circulate the blood returning to the heart from the body and lungs, causing fluid (mainly water) to leak from capillary blood vessels. This leads to the symptoms that may include shortness of breath, weakness, and swelling. Many disease processes can impair the pumping efficiency of the heart to cause congestive heart failure. In the United States, the most common causes of congestive heart failure are:

Heart failure is a long-term (chronic) condition in which the heart cannot pump enough blood through the body. When this happens, parts of the body do not get the blood and oxygen needed for them to function properly.

Congestive Heart Failure is a condition in which the heart cannot pump enough blood to meet the needs of the rest of the body (Department of Health & Human Services, 2012). The failure can occur in on either side of the heart. In left-side heart failure, fluid backs up into the lungs, causing shortness of breath, due to the fact that the blood entering the left side of the heart comes from the pulmonary artery, and when the left ventricle cannot pump fluid out of the heart or when the left atrium cannot empty completely into the ventricle it backs up into the lungs. In right-side heart failure, fluid can back up into the abdomen, legs, and feet, causing swelling. The blood being pumped into the right

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a condition caused by the weakening of the heart and the cardiovascular system. It develops when the heart is not able to pump enough blood. Some causes of CHF would include, narrowed arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle – coronary artery disease, past heart attack, or myocardial infarction, with scar tissue that interferes with the heart muscle’s normal work, high blood pressure, heart valve disease, primary disease of the heart muscle itself, called cardiomyopathy.

Congestive heart failure is when the heart weakens and the heart cannot pump enough blood to the body, or enough oxygen to the lungs. The picture shows a healthy heart and the proper flow and a heart that has the condition congestive heart failure. You can see that the heart on the left is slightly bigger in a sense. The condition narrows the arteries in the heart causing it hard to pump blood throughout the body. The symptoms of CHF: shortness of breath when laying down, fatique and weakness, edema (swelling of any organ or body

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a condition where the heart is unable to efficiently pump blood to supply the body with adequate blood flow and it can cause fluid to build up in the lungs. There are several disease processes and risk factors that predispose an individual to this condition. CHF can be chronic or acute and life threatening, and most of these patients are in the older adult population. Some symptoms of CHF include fatigue, shortness of breath, edema, and diminished exercise capacity. There are several medical management techniques for this condition including lifestyle modifications, medications and surgical intervention. Below, I will summarize two articles on two different medical treatments for CHF.