The Heart Of Heart Failure

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).

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,

Approximately 5.3 million Americans have heart failure and account for more hospital admissions than any other diagnosis in patients over 65

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).

Heart failure, HF, is a result of one’s heart inefficiently pumping blood out to the body (Lewis, Dirksen, Heitkemper and Bucher, 2014, p.766). A healthy heart will pump blood out of the left and right ventricles rhythmically and simultaneously, creating an even flow of blood from the heart to the pulmonary arteries and the aorta (Lewis et al., 2014, p.769). Someone with heart failure has a ventricular dysfunction in either one or both ventricles; the ventricles are not filling or contracting properly. The failure of one ventricle to properly function leads to an overcompensation of the opposite ventricle as well as a disruption in normal blood flow that leads

Heart failure is a major health problem worldwide, but especially in the United States. The CDC estimates that over 5.7 million Americans are living with heart failure, and that

Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) is a chronic dysfunction of the heart’s ability to effectively pump blood throughout the body. Left-sided heart failure is the most common and there are two main types: systolic and diastolic. In simple terms, diastolic heart failure occurs when the left ventricle still pumps effectively, but doesn’t move as much blood as it should due to a filling problem. Systolic heart failure, on the other hand, occurs when the left ventricle does not pump as forcefully as it should, and therefore less blood makes it into circulation per contraction. Researchers and physicians alike are moving away from the classifications of systolic and diastolic as problems with one can produce abnormalities with the other. Instead, they are moving to classifying heart failure as having normal or impaired left ventricular ejection fraction. Impaired ejection fraction (<40%) would be

Research by the American Heart Association (2014) states that heart failure effects an estimated 5.1 million Americans and it is predicted to increase 25% by 2030. Heart failure is a pathophysiological condition that indicates the heart is unable to promote enough cardiac output causing insufficient blood supply to the body. Pharmacological treatment for cardiac failure is dependent upon the ability to decrease rate of blood flow and blood pressure. Survival after heart failure diagnosis has improved with medication but the death rate remains high with over half of the people diagnosed with heart failure will die within 5 years. (Go et al., 2014)

This could start by simply telling the heart failure patient to perform interval training or continuous training like in this experiment. This could also get to be as complex as a workout with specific amount of reps and what type of exercise they should do .

“HF [heart failure] is a common, expensive, severe, and progressive disease state in which routinely adjusted treatments are required to lower morbidity and mortality, and reduce overall health care costs” (Dendale & Coauthors, 2012, p. 1). Due to the severity of HF, readmission rates of HF patients are an area of great concern because HF is the leading cause of hospital admissions and readmission in patients older than 65 years (Stamp, Machado, Allen, Correspondence, 2014). Not only is it the leading cause of hospital admissions and readmissions, it is also one of the most costly diagnoses in the United States (Stamp et al., 2014). Heart failure has become an increasing issue among a variety of patients especially those that have other underlying health conditions and especially those who are older. Heart failure has many troublesome symptoms that may reduce a patient’s quality of life. “Frequently experienced symptoms by HF patients such as shortness of breath and extreme fatigue significantly restrict an individual’s ability to perform self-care and daily activities…” (Stamp. et al., 2014). Readmission rates for HF patients is becoming a growing concern especially due to the “baby boomer” population getting older, which in return will increase the number of first time admissions and readmissions for patients with heart failure (Betihavas, 2013). According to Cykert (2012), “The ACA penalizes hospitals with a high rate

In the American Heart Association (AHA)/American College of Cardiology guidelines1, heart failure (HF) is defined as a complex clinical syndrome that can result from any structural or functional cardiac disorder that impairs the ability of the ventricle to fill or eject blood. A normal healthy heart is a muscular organ with four chambers, two on the right and two on the left, that pumps blood to the lungs and rest of the body2. The two upper chambers are called atria and the two lower chambers are called ventricles. The right atria take in oxygen-poor blood from the rest of the body and sends it back out to the lungs through the right ventricle where the blood becomes oxygenated. Oxygen-rich blood travels from the lungs to the left atrium, then on to the left ventricle, which pumps it to the rest of the body. In a patient with heart failure, the heart muscle has been progressively weakened and unable to pump enough blood through to the body.

Chronic heart failure (CHF), a potentially fatal stage of any cardiovascular disease not only demonstrates a steady growth in the general population, but also the significant economic costs of the health system in improving the clinical status of patients, improving their quality of life, reduce the risk of adverse clinical outcomes (Mosterd A., Hoes AW 2007 McMurry JJ, 2010). The European Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of CHF, determines the CHF, as the "pathophysiologic syndrome, in which the result of a disease of the cardiovascular system is reduced pumping function, which leads to an imbalance between the hemodynamic needs of the body and the heart needs" [16].

Approximately 20 million people around the world have a diagnosis of heart failure (HF) (Hobbs, Escutia, Harrison, Moore, & Sarpong, 2016). HF is the most frequent reason that cardiac patients are rehospitalized. As outlined in the Affordable Care Act,

Its role in heart failure treatment has become a matter of debate, as it did not improve survival in adult patients with heart failure (Packer et al. 1993). Some studies found beneficial effect in patients with large left to right shunt (Kimball et al. 1991). On the other hand, other studies do not support its use in patients with large shunts owing to its effect in augmenting pulmonary flow (Seguchi et al. 1999).

Even though tremendous progress in the studies and treatments of heart failure have been made, heart failure continues to be one of the leaders in the cause of death for many people. There are still high medical costs and still poor patient outcomes that are because of this disease. People who have heart failure, are also suffering from things like edema, shortness of breath and fatigue as well as having the quality of their social and emotional aspects of life being affected. (Stavrianopoulas, 2016). When these symptoms go untreated, then this leads to frequent hospital visits and admissions which also causes a rise in hospital costs. There is also a decrease in day to day life qualities for these patients. (Stavrianopoulas, 2016). By reducing exacerbations of these symptoms and cutting down on the number of repeat hospitalizations with follow up visits with their physicians, nursing led phone calls, early education of the disease will help to increase the quality of life in heart failure patients. (Stavrianopoulas, 2016).