Heart Failure

What is heart failure?
Heart failure is a clinical syndrome in which the heart cannot meet the energy demands of the body. Heart failure typically develops slowly after injury to the heart, such as after a heart attack or when too much strain is placed on the heart because of years of untreated chronic cardiovascular diseases. As the heart muscle weakens, it needs to pump harder to keep blood flowing to the body.

Symptoms
When the heart is not pumping properly or efficiently, daily activity can cause shortness of breath or difficulty in breathing when lying down. The legs and ankles may swell because too much water is remaining in the body (retention). And, one often feels weak and tired.

Causes of heart failure include:

• Damage to the heart from lack of blood supply to the heart muscle (heart attack, coronary artery disease), infection, or toxic exposure to chemicals (which can include alcohol and cocaine abuse).
• Too much strain on the heart because of conditions such as high blood pressure or heart valve disease.

Many people don't know they have heart failure because they think getting tired and being short of breath is a sign of growing older.

Read more about Heart Care in our fall issue of HouseCalls:

HouseCalls, Fall 2002 (352 kb)