Preview

Congestive Heart Failure

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
738 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Congestive Heart Failure
Heart Failure

Heart failure (HF), often called congestive heart failure (CHF) or congestive cardiac failure (CCF), occurs when the heart is unable to provide sufficient pump action to distribute blood flow to meet the needs of the body. Heart failure can cause a number of symptoms including shortness of breath, leg swelling, and exercise intolerance. The condition is diagnosed with echocardiography and blood tests.
Treatment commonly consists of: lifestyle measures such as smoking cessation, light exercise including breathing protocols, decreased salt intake and other dietary changes, and medications. Sometimes it is treated with implanted devices (pacemakers or ventricular assist devices) and occasionally a heart transplant.
Heart
…show more content…

However, heart failure is a serious condition that requires medical care.
Heart failure is a very common condition. About 5.8 million people in the United States have heart failure.
Both children and adults can have the condition, although the symptoms and treatments differ. This article focuses on heart failure in adults.
Currently, heart failure has no cure. However, treatments—such as medicines and lifestyle changes—can help people who have the condition live longer and more active lives. Researchers continue to study new ways to treat heart failure and its complications.
Heart failure develops over time as the heart's pumping action grows weaker. The condition can affect the right side of the heart only, or it can affect both sides of the heart. Most cases involve both sides of the heart.
Right-side heart failure occurs if the heart can't pump enough blood to the lungs to pick up oxygen. Left-side heart failure occurs if the heart can't pump enough oxygen-rich blood to the rest of the body.
Right-side heart failure may cause fluid to build up in the feet, ankles, legs, liver, abdomen, and the veins in the neck. Right-side and left-side heart failure also may cause shortness of breath and fatigue
…show more content…

If the heart muscle cannot pump enough blood, it cannot meet the body's needs for blood and oxygen.
You may notice a shortness of breath, especially when lying down, swelling in the feet and ankles or a sudden weight gain. Understand the symptoms and how to work with your healthcare provider for an accurate diagnosis.
Heart failure requires you to pay close attention to changes in symptoms. Reduce your chances of hospital visits by understanding your symptoms and knowing when they signal trouble. Learn what warning signs to watch for.
When heart failure is caused by heart damage that has developed over time, it can't be cured. But there is good news. It can be treated and symptoms can improve. Learn more about prevention and treatment for heart failure.
Heart failure is one of the most common reasons for hospital admissions among those 65 years and older. But this condition is not limited to seniors. Learn more about who is at risk.
For advanced heart failure patients and their doctors, making good decisions requires teamwork. Learn the treatment options, the planning involved and about shared decision making. American Heart


You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    1. Heart failure (HF) is a syndrome that involves dysfunction of the cardiac muscle, it occurs with “any of disorders that damage or overwork the heart muscle” (Karch, 2017 p.751). Some of the disorders that may lead to HF are: coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathy, hypertension, and valvular heart disease (Karch, 2017). What ends up happening as a result of these disorders, is that the heart muscle cannot effectively pump blood throughout the vascular system (Karch, 2017). In left-sided heart failure, the “blood backs up into the lungs which leads to pulmonary vessel congestion and fluid leakage into the alveoli and lung tissue” (Karch, 2017 p.752). In right-sided failure, the blood backs up in the venous system, which may lead to liver congestion and edema of the legs and feet (Karch, 2017).…

    • 405 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Right sided heart failure happens when the right side of the heart is unable to pump an adequate amount of blood to the lungs and out of the right side of the heart. This either happens because the hearts muscles are unable to fully contract or they are inflamed not allowing an adequate amount of blood to enter them. This leads to a backup in venous blood. The venous blood puts pressure on the walls of the blood vessels (especially in the legs). This causes blood plasma to leak into the interstitial spaces. This causes one of the major signs of right sided heart failure which is pitting edema of the legs. But, the fluid back up does not only cause edema. The failure of the right side of the heart to load sends a smaller amount of blood to the…

    • 291 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Hca 240 Final Project

    • 1640 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Congestive heart failure does not only affect the heart muscle. There are several body systems that are effected by CHF, including the circulatory system, the respiratory system, the neuroendocrine system, and the vascular system. Aside from the conditions that lead to congestive heart failure, there are some warning signs that should be considered. Shortness of Breath (dyspnea) that presents itself as breathlessness during activity or while sleeping (more difficult when lying flat) and is caused by blood backing up in the pulmonary veins because the heart can 't keep up with the supply which causes fluid to leak into the lungs. Persistent coughing and/or wheezing that produces a pink blood tinged mucus which is caused by fluid in the lungs. Build up of excess fluid in body tissues (edema) that presents…

    • 1640 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Right-sided heart failure is a consequence of left ventricular failure. When the fluid pressure increases in the left ventricle, but is too weak to pump the fluid out into the aorta, the fluid regurgitates into the left atrium and subsequently backs up into the lungs. In the same manner, the right ventricle pump deoxygenated blood to the pulmonic vein but is met with great resistance due to congested lungs, thereby pushing the fluid back into the right atrium, and into the vena cava. This backing up of blood causes swelling of the abdomen, legs and ankle.…

    • 217 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Right Side: Systemic Congestion- Jugular distention, enlarged liver and spleen, anorexia and nausea, dependent edema, distended abdomen, swollen hands and fingers, polyuria at night, weight gain, increased blood pressure or decreased blood pressure.…

    • 864 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Heart failure often happens after other conditions have damaged or weakened your heart, but the heart doesn't need to be weakened to cause heart failure. It can also happen if the heart becomes to stiff. Congestive heart failure comes from blood backing up into or congesting…

    • 190 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Diastolic Heart Failure

    • 1433 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Heart failure occurs when the heart cannot pump enough blood for the body due to a weakened or damaged heart. The heart's pumping action moves oxygen-rich blood as it travels from the lungs to the left atrium, then on to the left ventricle, which pumps it to the rest of the body. The left ventricle supplies most of the heart's pumping power, so it's larger than the other chambers and essential for normal function. (American Heart Association). In left-sided or left ventricular heart failure, the left side of the heart must work harder to pump the same amount of blood. (American Heart Association). There are two types of left-sided heart failure: systolic heart failure and diastolic heart failure. Heart…

    • 1433 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    analysis of ED decision making in patients with non-high-risk heart failure. The American Journal of…

    • 922 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Heart failure is an ailment where the heart is not able to pump the required amount of blood to the body. Left-sided heart failure is described as when the heart cannot pump enough oxygenated blood to the body while Right-sided heart failure is when the heart cannot fill with the appropriate amount of blood.1 One or both of these may occur with heart failure. In the United States, 5.8 million people have heart failure and this number is continuing to grow.1 With the number of people with this condition growing, it is important to outline the incidence and etiology, pathophysiology, clinical manifestations, medical diagnosis, medical and pharmacological management, and prognosis of heart failure as a way to inform and decrease…

    • 1213 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    While People has to be willing to make a change in their life in order to prevent congestive heart failure., Congestive heart failure is a chronic disease that could be prevented with a proper lifestyle change.…

    • 433 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Congestive heart failure is the process in which the heart becomes in-able to maintain circulation for the requirements of the body at an effective rate, As the heart is one of the body’s vital organs, it plays an important role and has some degree of compensating mechanisms to balance the body’s needs with existing disease of the heart. Eventually when the heart is no longer able to compensate heart failure occurs; congestion will then follow, resulting in insufficient supply of blood to the body.…

    • 681 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Causes Of Heart Failure

    • 476 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Heart failure's definition is obvious from its term. Heart stops working due to lack of oxygen(1). Lack of oxygen in the artery that is coming from lung to the heart. This artery called coronary artery. The lack of oxygen in this artery is due to blocking of this artery. In this case, heart starts to adapt this condition by many ways. First, heart champers enlarge, heart contracting cells get bigger, and heart pumps faster. All these adaptive ways that heart uses just to provide body organs with enough…

    • 476 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Congestive Heart Failure

    • 1596 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Congestive heart failure occurs as a result of a number of diseases which cause weakening or stiffness of the heart muscle which prevents the heart from keeping up with the body’s normal demand for oxygen rich blood. When the heart cannot keep up with the demand for oxygen and nutrients to meet the needs of the body, over time, the muscle fibers of the heart stretch to hold more blood, hormones are released to increase the pumping power and causing the walls of the heart to thicken from overuse. (Murphy, 2013) Although the symptoms of heart failure vary, they can include fatigue, weakness, rapid irregular heartbeat, edema, difficulty breathing, cough, memory loss, disorientation, sudden weight gain from fluid retention and decrease in exercise. Congestive heart failure left untreated eventually effects every organ in the body.…

    • 1596 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Currently, the simplest method to counteract congestive heart failure is the use of medication. Medication can be effective if the heart is treated during the initial stages of the failure; however, if the heart is already in end stage congestive heart failure, medication is highly ineffective [Gorman and Park, 2001]. For people with a heart in the end stage of congestive heart failure, heart transplant surgery is the only biological alternative available. During heart transplant surgery, the diseased heart is removed and replaced with a healthy heart that was donated by a person who had died for other reasons. However, due to the relatively small number of donor hearts that become available each year, many people with end stage congestive heart failure die while waiting to receive a donated…

    • 571 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Congestive Heart Failure

    • 1013 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Congestive heart failure distresses the heart’s function as a pump to meet the body’s needs, affecting many organs of the body including the liver, lungs, kidneys and the intestines. Untreated, this condition will affect virtually every organ in the body. (MedicineNet, 2012) According to Healthline.com congestive heart failure (CHF) is defined as, “A condition in which the heart can no longer pump enough blood to the rest of the body.” (Healthline, 2012) Heart failure is a serious disorder that may get worse with an infection or physical stress. It is often classified as either systolic or diastolic. Systolic heart failure means that your heart muscle cannot pump or eject the blood out of the heart properly. Diastolic heart failure means that your heart’s pumping chamber does not fill up with blood. In both systolic and diastolic heart failure the heart is no longer able to pump enough blood out to the rest of the body. This is especially true when you are active or exercising. (Healthline, 2012)…

    • 1013 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays