About congestive heart failure
Although it sounds frightening to hear that you have congestive heart failure, the underlying conditions that often cause heart failure, such as coronary artery disease or high blood pressure usually develop over many years. Heart failure is defined as the inability for your heart to pump blood efficiently, thus not circulating enough blood to meet your body's needs. Breathlessness, fatigue and leg swelling may result. The term congestive heart failure is used when fluid builds up in the heart. Sometimes the heart becomes somewhat stiff preventing it from filling properly and that also can lead to heart failure.
Over five million Americans are living with heart failure and as many as 700,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. Heart failure is a life-threatening disease, causing approximately 250,000 deaths per year.
Heart disease develops slowly, over time and is usually a chronic, long-term condition. Often the earliest symptom will be shortness of breath, but other signs include:
- fatigue and weakness.
- shortness of breath (dyspnea) both during exertion and when lying down.
- persistent cough with phlegm that is white or pink blood-tinged.
- pronounced neck veins.
- swelling (edema) in your legs, ankles and feet.
- swelling of your abdomen (ascites).
- weight gain from fluid retention that occurs rapidly.
- lack of appetite and nausea.
- loss of concentration or decreased alertness.
- irregular or rapid heartbeat.
Your best defense is to control risk factors that often lead to heart failure including high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, diabetes, smoking, alcohol abuse, lack of exercise and obesity.
So What Causes Congestive Heart Failure
Your arteries delivery oxygen-rich blood to all parts of your body. Your veins bring oxygen-poor blood back to your heart to be recycled through your heart and lungs and back out to the rest of your body, via your arteries. Your heart consists of four chambers. Your heart's two upper chambers, the atria, receive blood while the two lower chambers, the ventricles, pump blood. Blood returning to your heart enters the right upper chamber (right atrium of your heart). From there, blood empties into the right ventricle underneath. The right ventricle pumps blood into your lungs, where blood is oxygenated. Oxygenated blood from your lungs then returns to your heart, but this time to the upper left atrium chamber. Blood then flows into the left ventricle, which is your heart's main pumping chamber. With each heartbeat, your left ventricle pumps blood into the aorta (your body's largest artery) and on to the rest of your body.
Heart failure can involve both sides of your heart or just the left side or right side. Heart failure begins typically with the left ventricle, your heart's main pumping chamber. This is referred to as left-sided or left ventricular heart failure. Right sided heart failure can be a result of left ventricular heart failure or it can occur independently.
Very often stress from a heart attach, high blood pressure or valve disorders can cause heart failure. Many behaviors as mentioned earlier cause or contribute to heart failure, including smoking, obesity, high cholesterol levels and lack of exercise. Sometimes your heart becomes weakened without explanation.
If you have heart failure, there is a good chance your have had one or more of the following conditions: coronary artery disease, high blood pressure (hypertension), heart attack, faulty hearty valves, cardiomyopathy (damage to the heart muscle), congenital heart defects (present at birth) or abnormal heart rhythms. Other chronic conditions such as diabetes, severe anemia, hyperthyroidism, kidney or liver failure and emphysema may also precipitate the disease.
Treatment and lifestyle changes
Making lifestyle changes can often help relieve signs and symptoms of heart failure and slow the progression of the disease. Changes that may be the most important and beneficial ones you can make are as follows:
- Elevate the head of your bed. Elevation takes pressure off your chest and enhances your breathing. The amount of recommended elevation will vary depending on the severity of your condition, but physicians agree that any elevation is beneficial.
- Restrict sodium.
- Limit fats and cholesterol.
- Limit alcohol and fluids.
- Exercise moderately within a program approved by your physician.
- Stop smoking.
- Monitor your weight and promptly report rapid weight gain to your physician, as that could indicate retention of fluids.
- Reduce stress.
In most cases, once you have congestive heart failure, it is not cureable. However, with proper treatment and care a failing heart can improve in strength and many of the signs and symptoms of heart failure can improve.
There are a number of medications that are prescribed for heart failure, including angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor, which help people live longer and feel better angiotensin II (A-II) receptor blockers that don't cause a cough like many ACE inhibitors diuretics, which keep fluid from collecting in your body digoxin which increase the strength of your heart muscle contractions and beta blockers, which slow your heart rate and reduces blood pressure.
Some cases require surgery to treat the underlying problem that led to heart failure. For example, coronary bypass surgery may address severely narrowed coronary arteries or repair of a damaged heart valve may be necessary. A heart transplant can dramatically improve the quality of life for people with severe heart failure. Additional treatments that show good results include heart pumps, biventricular cardiac pacemakers, cardiac wrap surgery, artificial hearts and enhanced external counterpulsation (EECP), which are inflatable pressure cuffs placed on the calves, thighs and buttocks that inflate and deflate in syncronization with your heartbeat.
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Joyce Claflin Harrell is the inventor of the patented Sleepcliner™ bed elevating system. Her web site www.sleepcliner.com offers multiple solutions for elevating the head of your bed, along with links and articles covering a number of chronic conditions, all of which benefit from sleeping with head and chest elevated.
