The end result in both is a reduction in the amount of blood that each heartbeat pumps into circulation. Managing heart failure initially involves a combination of lifestyle changes and medications. A healthy diet, minimizing salt intake, controlling fluid intake, and regular exercise all help keep heart failure under control. Treating an underlying cause, such as a faulty heart valve or diabetes, can help. Medications such as diuretics water pills , ACE inhibitors, and beta blockers are commonly used.
Sometimes a special pacemaker called a biventricular pacemaker is used to help both lower chambers of the heart beat in unison; an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator ICD may also be needed.
Advanced heart failure requires more intense medical therapy. Sometimes a heart transplant is needed. As a service to our readers, Harvard Health Publishing provides access to our library of archived content. Please note the date of last review or update on all articles.
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When the heart contracts the way it should, but the ventricles do not expand properly when they fill with blood, it is called diastolic heart failure. It is important for the heart to be able to pump properly because that is how oxygen-rich blood is pumped through the body. Heart failure is a very scary term and the condition can be deadly. These traits tend to fuel many myths and misconceptions. Suffice it to say, cardiac problems are no joke. But it is treatable and does not have to end your life.
The short answer is, yes. You can die from heart failure, but those who take the necessary precautions and follow a self-care plan created by their doctor have a greater chance of living a healthier, happier, longer life. If you have heart disease the sooner you talk to your doctor and create a treatment plan, the better your chances are of keeping it in check.
The end result is inefficient blood flow from a muscle in a weakened state. Valve conditions. Heart valves keep blood flowing in the proper direction. A damaged valve - due to a heart defect, coronary artery disease, or heart infection - forces the heart to work harder to keep blood flowing as it should.
Over time, this extra work can weaken the heart, leading to CHF. Other conditions. Other conditions, either from birth such as congenital heart defects , contracted such as HIV or myocarditis resulting from a virus , or developed over time such as diabetes, hemochromatosis, or amyloidosis can also lead to CHF.
In essence, any condition which forces the heart to work harder to pump blood through the heart can lead to heart failure. What are the symptoms of CHF? What should you be looking for and how do you know if a patient might be suffering from this particular condition?
Well, the first thing to note is that the symptoms of heart failure exist on a spectrum that can run from mild to moderate to severe. Symptoms can come and go and worsen over time, making CHF difficult to diagnose, but here are some of the most common things to look for, according to the American Heart Association.
Despite being such a prevalent condition, is still a lot of confusion about congestive heart failure. Heart Failure Matters , a website developed under the direction of the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology, tests your knowledge of some of the most common myths and facts.
Can you identify which are which? MYTH: Heart failure does not mean your heart has stopped beating. When the weakened heart cannot pump out all the blood inside it, the blood backs up into veins and leaks through small blood vessels; tissues swell painfully.
The heart beats faster; the patient huffs and puffs in a futile attempt to get oxygen; the kidneys and liver fail. And, starved of oxygen, so does the brain. Liver failure: Stricken by cancer or hepatitis, the liver can no longer clear toxic chemicals from the body. A poisonous metabolite of ammonia builds up in the blood, explains Dr.
Robert Glick, chief of emergency services at Oroville Hospital in California. When the toxic compound reaches the brain, it kills neurons in the brain stem, which controls heartbeat and respiration. The patient lapses into a coma. Consciousness fades away. There is neither pain nor other sensation. Death follows, usually within hours. Cancer: ""Very few people die of the primary tumor''--the cancer they are said to ""have,'' explains cancer surgeon Dr. Murray Brennan of Sloan-Kettering.
It is metastasis that kills.
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