What is Heart Failure, Causes, Symptoms?
A Healthy Heart
When the heart relaxes, it fills with blood. When the heart squeezes, it pushes that blood, which contains nutrients and oxygen, out to the rest of the body.
What is Heart Failure?
Your heart pumps blood to every part of the body. Heart failure does not mean that your heart has stopped working. It means that your heart is not pumping normally so that fluid can build up in your lungs and other parts of your body. When your heart fails to pump blood at a rate needed to meet the body’s needs, you may have difficulty breathing, feel tired, and find swelling in your ankles, legs, and feet.
What causes Heart Failure?
Heart failure is usually caused by other problems that make the heart function inadequately, both detectable and non-detectable.
These problems can include: coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, heart muscle disorder (cardiomyopathy), severe lung disease, low red blood cell count, abnormal heart rhythm, COPD, obesity, sleep apnea, and kidney failure
What are symptoms of Heart Failure?
Typically weight gain of 2 lbs in 24 hours or 3-5 lbs in a week, new shortness of breath (trouble breathing), unexpected shortness of breath (especially when you are lying flat or perform routine activities), waking up with a cough or constant cough, being more tired or weak, swollen legs or feet, stomach fullness, nausea or vomiting