The Truth Behind Congestive Heart Failure
Congestive heart failure, or simply heart failure, is an illness wherein the heart can’t possibly pump the much-needed blood throughout the body. It is also possible that the heart fails to stop the blood from going back into the lungs, instead of passing thorough the heart.
Heart failure usually starts when the heart becomes overworked in pumping blood. And so gradually, the heart weakens from the extra work it is doing. The heart being overworked in turn is mostly caused by the damages sustained by the heart.
Congestive heart failure commonly occurs when a person gets older. Studies had shown that one percent of people aged 50 years and older is suffering from this disease. And around five percent of those whose age is 75 years old and above have it.
The surface causers of this disease are smoking, obesity, high cholesterol diet, and a sedentary lifestyle. All of these increase the risk for congestive heart failure. Existing heart conditions may also cause heart failure. Among them are arrhythmia, mitral regurgitation, aortic stenosis, coronary heart diseases, cardiomyopathy, myocarditis, hypertension, and myocardial infarction.
Other diseases present in the body can also cause heart failure. Examples of these are diabetes, severe anemia, lung diseases, hyperthyroidism, pneumonia, and vitamin deficiency. Some studies have also shown that pregnancy may also cause congestive heart failure. And this is mostly due to the inability of the mother’s body to fight off diseases and infections. However, cases like this is quite rare.
The most common sign of congestive heart failure is fatigue. As the heart starts to overwork itself, patients are going to notice that they begin to get tired very easily. They would also feel palpitations, or an increased heart rate. Other symptoms are loss of appetite and memory. Nausea and persistent wheezing and coughing will also be observed. They would also feel regular shortness of breaths and observe some swelling in their abdomen, legs, or feet.
Congestive heart failure can be detected through rigid physical examination. The doctor’s stethoscope can detect abnormal sounds of the heart, which are clinically termed as murmurs. Physicians would also look for enlarged veins in the neck area or edema in the legs and abdomen. And as always, gathering the patient’s history of alcohol or drug abuse is going to help, including the discovery of other symptoms of congestive heart failure present in them.
Other tests that can be conducted on patients are electorcardiogram and echocardiogram. These two are noninvasive tests that are used to measure the heart’s electrical impulse and activity. Electrocardiogram uses heart sensors while echocardiogram adapts the ultrasound technology to detect any abnormal structure in the heart.
Nuclear stress test, which involves injecting a certain substance, usually a dye, to the vein, is also used. With that chemical inside the body, doctors will then be able to see images of the heart using a special camera or x-ray. This enables doctors to observe their patients while they work, rest, or exercise. And it is going to help them greatly in deciding which method of treatment has to be pursued.
And as with other diseases, the first line of treatment of congestive heart failure is always drugs and medications, along with some lifestyle changes of course. Alcohol intake, tobacco, and cholesterol consumption should all be eliminated. And the drugs that doctors usually prescribe to patients are ACE inhibitors, Angiotensin II receptor blockers, beta-blockers, blood thinners, diuretics, inotropic agents, and vasodilators.
And if the patient is not helped at all by these medications, the next line of treatment is surgery. There are different types of surgery that doctors could perform. Which to use depends entirely upon the cause of the heart failure. Procedures that can be conducted include coronary angioplasty, coronary artery bypass surgery, and valve replacement surgery, among others.
