Heart Failure
Usually known as Congestive Heart Failure, it is one of the most common and increasingly diagnosed illnesses in people today. Not only older people but men and women in their early 30’s are also diagnosed with this disease.
Although it doesn’t mean that a heart has stopped working entirely, a heart fails to function normally. It does not pump blood properly, which deprives a body of oxygen.
What happens in Heart Failure?
In congestive heart failure, arteries going in the heart are narrowed, and the heart doesn’t pump blood properly. The ventricles of your heart become stiff and do not function appropriately.
Heart muscles are weakened and damaged in some of the cases, and four ventricles of heart dilate due to which the flow of blood throughout the body is disturbed.
An ejection fraction is measured to find out if your heart is working correctly and pumping the blood to the body efficiently. A normal healthy heart’s ejection fraction is 50 percent or more. All of the blood that fills the ventricles has to be pumped out with each beat. However, a person with an average ejection fraction can also suffer heart failure.
As we are aware that our heart consists of four ventricles, hence heart failure can entangle any of these. Usually, it starts with the left side of the heart, mainly the left ventricle that is the dominant pumping chamber of the heart.
Causes
- Coronary Artery Disease – CAD is the disease of the artery that transports blood and oxygen to the heart muscle.
- High Blood Pressure – It is caused due to hypertension and causes the heart to work harder, extra strain on muscles make your heart weak or too stiff. Hence it fails to continue the blood flow.
- Heart Attack – The arteries become narrowed due to fat deposits and causes reduces the flow of blood.
- Cardiomyopathy – It is caused due to kidney diseases, diabetes, the use of toxic drugs, or heart defects present since birth. It is damage to the heart muscle. Genetics also plays a significant role in this.
The chief symptoms that signify heart failure are listed below:
Symptoms:
- Weakness and Fatigue
- Irregular or rapid heartbeats
- Dyspnea, that is shortness of breath when you lie down
- Swelling in the lower body
- Zero motivation to exercise
- Excessive weight gain
- Chest pain, if caused due to heart attack
- Nausea and low appetite
- Shortness of breath and persistent cough
How can you prevent heart failure?
Preventive measures should be followed to avoid and reduce risk factors. It requires you to change your lifestyle completely. Following are some of the ways you can reduce your chances of heart failure:
- Stop smoking
- Daily exercise
- Maintaining physical health
- Eating food full of nutrition
- Controlling your level of blood pressure
- Avoiding stressful situations
- Staying fit and active
Heart failure is not a regular issue; it can lead to further more chronic health issues such as kidney damage, liver damage, or heart rhythm problems.
Emergency help from your doctor should be hunted in critical situations if you feel acute chest pain, severe weakness, shortness of breath, or constant coughing.
If you are not yet diagnosed with heart failure, then also emergency treatment is needed as the doctor would confirm and determine if you have heart failure or any other disease.