What is congestive heart failure?
Congestive heart failure is a long-term cardiac disorder that means your heart is too weak to pump sufficient blood around your body.
The heart muscle pumps oxygen-rich blood out to all your cells, tissues, and organs, providing them with the oxygen and nutrients they need to grow, repair, and regenerate.
If your heart can't pump the blood efficiently enough, it starts to gather in places like your arms and legs, digestive tract, and lungs. It also starves your body of oxygen and means your organs can't function properly.
What causes congestive heart failure?
You’re more likely to develop congestive heart failure if you have hypertension or coronary artery disease. You can also suffer congestive heart failure as a complication of:
- Lung disease
- Arrhythmia
- Tumors in your heart
- Valve disorders
- Structural heart abnormalities
Mission Heart & Vascular diagnoses congestive heart failure after performing a cardiac consultation and running tests, which could include urinalysis, blood tests, EKG, echocardiogram, coronary angiography, nuclear ventriculography, or a CT or MRI scan.
What are the symptoms of congestive heart failure?
Symptoms of congestive heart failure vary to a degree depending on the reason for your condition and how severely it affects your heart.
Some of the more common symptoms of congestive heart failure include:
- Fatigue
- Palpitations
- Shortness of breath
- Chest pain
- Swelling in your arms, legs, or abdomen
- Arms and legs feeling cold when resting
- Bulging neck veins
- Loss of appetite
- Nausea and vomiting
- Difficulty sleeping
- Reduced urination
It's also possible to have congestive heart failure and not experience any noticeable symptoms, or assume the way you feel is due to something else.
How is congestive heart failure treated?
To treat your congestive heart failure, Mission Heart & Vascular prepares a customized treatment plan. Your plan takes account of the cause of your condition, your age and general health, and the severity of your congestive heart failure.
Some of the treatments that could feature in your plan include:
Lifestyle changes
A healthy diet, more exercise, quitting smoking and excessive alcohol consumption, and losing weight can all reduce stress on your heart and help prevent your condition from worsening.
Medications
There are numerous medications that can help with heart function. Examples include ACE inhibitors to reduce hypertension, digoxin to help your heart muscle contract more forcefully, and diuretics to reduce and prevent fluid retention.
Implantable devices
You might need to have an implantable device like a pacemaker or defibrillator fitted to help regulate your heart function.
If you have congestive heart failure symptoms or any worries about your heart, call Mission Heart & Vascular or book an appointment online today.
