Papers On Congestive Heart Failure

Congestive heart failure is an older name for heart failure. Congestive heart failure takes place when the heart is unable to maintain an adequate circulation of blood in the bodily tissues or to pump out the venous blood returned to it by the veins (Merriam-Webster). The heart is split into two distinct pumping structures, the right side of the heart and the left side of the heart. Appropriate cardiac performance involves each ventricle to extract even quantities of blood over intervals. If the volume of blood reimbursed to the heart develops more than both ventricles can manage, the heart can no longer be an efficient pump.

Heart failure describes the heart’s inability to function properly, meaning the heart is unable to pump efficiently throughout the body. Thus causing the heart to work extra hard in order to compensate the body’s needs, but this ultimately leads to failure. And due to Mrs. Harris’s hypertension and alcohol consumption, she is now displaying signs and symptoms of congestive heart failure, as both are major risk factors. Heart failure can be seen in the left side, which is also known as congestive heart failure, and the right side of heart. The left side is typically the first side to fail, as the left ventricle is the heart’s largest chamber and the most powerful.

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).

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

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

It because the heart has weak or damaged ventricular walls that are not able to push enough blood into the body (Congestive Heart Failure Symptoms). Or perhaps it is because the ventricular walls are stiff therefore, the heart does not fill with enough blood. If a person has a left sided heart failure the left ventricle doesn’t deliver enough oxygenated blood full of rich nutrients to the body which causes the person to feel tired and out of breath. The left ventricle also increases the blood pressure in the blood vessels between the lungs and the left ventricle. This increases pressure and forces fluid out of your blood and into your lung tissues, which makes it difficult to breathe. If someone has right-sided heart failure he is unable to contract with enough force to send the blood to the lungs in consequence blood builds up in the veins, throughout the tissues in the body which is called edema. Over time the heart failure on either side of the heart results in weakened and enlarged ventricles resulting in less blood pumping to the body. To make up for the decreased amount of blood the nervous system sends out stress hormones that increase the speed and force of the heartbeat. Unfortunately, the continued release of these hormones makes the heart failure worse because they damage the muscle cells in the ventricles (Moore). The common cause of heart failure is

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

After a period of time, the heart muscles of the left ventricle begin to weaken. The weakening of the left ventricle will lead to decreased empting of the heart (systolic heart failure) which results in decreased cardiac output again. Since the left ventricle does not empty completely, blood begins to back up into the left atrium and then to the pulmonary circulation thus resulting in pulmonary congestion and dyspnea (Story 2012, 104). If left untreated, the blood will back up and affect the right side of the heart causing biventricular heart failure (both right and left heart failure). In right sided heart failure, the right ventricle weakens and cannot empty completely. This incomplete emptying causes blood to back up into the systemic circulation causing systemic edema (Lewis et al. 2014, 771).

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.

Because the left ventricle is most often affected by coronary atherosclerosis and hypertension, Heart Failure usually begins there. If untreated, the condition progresses to right-sided

Heart disease is a chronic, progressive medical condition that affects cardiovascular, respiratory, and nervous systems. The heart is not able to pump adequate amount of blood to fuel the body properly. The heart is not able to keep up with its workload. There are several different kinds of heart failure. Among them, one is left-sided heart failure, in which the left side of the heart works harder to pump blood. The pumping action moves oxygen-rich blood from the lungs to the left atrium, left ventricle, and eventually to the other parts of the body. The left ventricle supplies as the source of pumping power, so it is larger and essential for normal function to be maintained. Two types of left-sided heart failure are systolic failure and

“congestive 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”(American Heart Association, 2015). When the heart fails, it pumps the blood faster to increase the output and muscle of heart become more dense and enlarged. Once the chambers are enlarged, it stretches more and contract strongly which helps to pump more blood. Due to the enlargement of the heart, a body starts to retain fluid, which makes a lung congested and heart starts to beat irregularly (American Heart Association, 2015). The main causes of CHF are coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, previous heart attack, cardiomyopathy, and others, which weakens and stiffens the heart muscles. In cardiomyopathy, heart muscles become thick, rigid and enlarged, which is caused by genetic factors, medications, infections, toxicity and others.

The pathophysiolgy underlying heart failure has evolved significantly over time. The heart may be visualised as a pump, consisting of four chambers divided into atria and ventricles further divided into right and left hemispheres.(14) Deoxygenated blood from peripheral tissues is supplied through the right atria/ventricle to the lungs where oxygenation through membranous perfusion occurs. Oxygenated blood returns through the pulmonary veins into the left atria/ventricle where it is supplied to the systemic/coronary circulation. This process occurs in two phases; systole and diastole. (14)

Symptoms of heart failure are divided into two parts which are left and right sided of the heart. Heart failure may happen due to the “pooling” of fluid in the lungs, abdominal area, legs or feet; it can also be caused by decreased blood flow to the body. The left-sided failure of the heart causes blood to back up or be congested to the lungs, causing respiratory symptoms such as: shortness of breath all the time especially during the night while sleeping, frequent dry cough and many more. Left side failure also gives fatigue which is due to insufficient supple of oxygenated blood. Whereas, right-sided failure is often caused by pulmonary heart disease, which usually caused by the difficulties of pulmonary circulation. This side of failure

If the right side of the heart fails, peripheral congestion occurs. Blood stagnates within body