Congestive heart failure happens when your heart can’t pump enough blood to provide your body with the oxygen-rich blood it needs for optimal functioning. If you have this heart condition, it doesn’t mean your heart has completely stopped working. It actually means your heart isn’t working as efficiently as it used to.
Blood moves through your heart and body slowly, and pressure in your heart rises. Let’s understand why this phenomenon happens, its types, and how to prevent it.
Table of Contents
What are the Causes of Congestive Heart Failure?
Congestive heart failure is a chronic illness that occurs when the heart is unable to pump blood effectively to fulfill the demands of your body.
However, the heart is still functional in this condition. Only the blood accumulates in other body areas because it can’t handle the usual blood volume. It typically gathers in your legs, feet, and lungs.
Now, why does this happen?
It can happen due to many conditions that damage the muscles of the heart, such as:
Coronary Artery Disease
Coronary artery disease (CAD) happens when sticky plaque accumulates in the arteries that carry blood and oxygen to the heart. The cardiac muscles receive a reduced blood flow. The heart gets starved of oxygen and nourishment if the arteries narrow or become clogged.
Heart Attack
A heart attack is an abrupt blockage of an artery supplying blood to the heart muscles. It happens when a portion of the heart muscles becomes injured and dysfunctional without blood.
Cardiomyopathy
The damage to the heart muscles inhibits the heart’s ability to pump blood effectively. This illness can occur due to infections, altered genes, and drug or alcohol abuse.
Conditions that Overwork the Heart
Heart failure can occur due to high blood pressure, heart valve disease, thyroid issues, kidney illness, diabetes, or congenital cardiac defects. Heart failure can occasionally happen due to a combination of diseases.
What are the Types of Congestive Heart Failure?
Heart failure can manifest on the left side, right side, or both sides of the heart. Additionally, cardiologists categorize heart failure based on the heart’s pumping efficiency.
Left-Sided Heart Failure
It is the most common type of heart failure that occurs on the left side, where the left ventricle predominantly handles pumping.
In left-sided heart failure, the left ventricle cannot pump an adequate amount of blood, leading to a buildup of excess blood in the pulmonary veins – vessels responsible for transporting blood away from the lungs.
Systolic Heart Failure
This condition arises when the heart muscle lacks the force needed to pump blood to the body. It is also known as heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (EF), with EF measuring the heart’s pumping efficiency per beat.
Diastolic Heart Failure
In this type, the heart contracts appropriately, but the ventricles either fail to relax adequately or become too rigid, limiting the amount of blood that can fill the heart. It is alternatively termed heart failure with preserved EF.
What are the Symptoms of Heart Failure?
You may not always feel noticeable symptoms of heart failure. However, when these symptoms occur, they can vary in intensity and frequency.
Symptoms may range from subtle sensations easily overlooked to severe disruptions in daily life.
Early Signs of Heart Failure in Adults
Look for these common symptoms of heart failure:
- Fatigue: An excess feeling of tiredness may be experienced when the heart fails to receive sufficient oxygen.
- Shortness of Breath: Reduced levels of oxygen-rich blood can make breathing difficult.
- Cough or Wheezing: Symptoms may arise from the accumulation of fluid in the lungs.
- Swelling: A weakened heart struggles to pump blood efficiently, leading to fluid retention and swelling (edema) in areas like the ankles, legs, and abdomen.
- Activity Limitations: Fatigue and shortness of breath can hinder daily activities and impede exercise.
Additional Heart Failure Symptoms
There are some additional symptoms as well that may help with the diagnosis:
- Increased Nighttime Urination: Elevated fluid levels may result in a heightened need to urinate during the night.
- Loss of Appetite or Nausea: Bloating in the stomach can cause a diminished appetite or feelings of nausea.
- Dizziness or Confusion: Reduced blood flow to the brain may manifest as dizziness or confusion.
- Weakness: Decreased blood flow to muscles can lead to a general sense of weakness.
- Fast or Irregular Heartbeat: As the heart attempts to pump more blood, a rapid or irregular heartbeat may occur.
- Rapid Weight Gain: Fluid accumulation can lead to sudden weight gain.
- Chest Pain: If heart failure is triggered by a heart attack, chest pain may be present.
You must understand these symptoms timely. It can help with the treatment and management of heart failure.
What are the Treatment Options for Heart Failure?
There are a lot of treatment options available for heart failure. The initial steps are lifestyle changes, medication, and monitoring.
Lifestyle Changes in Early-Stage Heart Failure
For early-stage heart failure, your doctor may recommend lifestyle adjustments such as:
- Weight management
- Regular exercise
- Adoption of a healthy, low-sodium diet
- Smoking cessation
- Stress management techniques
- Ensuring adequate sleep
These adjustments are based only on your specific needs.
Medications Used in Heart Failure Treatment
Several classes of medications are commonly employed in treating heart failure, including:
- Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) to relax blood vessels
- Beta-blockers to regulate heart rate
- Angiotensin receptor-neprilysin inhibitors to enhance artery function and blood flow
- Digoxin to fortify heart contractions and improve blood pumping
- Diuretics and aldosterone antagonists to eliminate excess body fluid
- Hydralazine or isosorbide dinitrate to widen blood vessels
- Potassium for heart rhythm control
- Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors to manage blood sugar and pressure
Note: Never self-medicate. You can consult a lifestyle medicine specialist like Dr. Ambreen Haider for heart health tips.
Cardiac Rehabilitation Program
Sometimes, lifestyle changes and medication are not enough. In this case, your doctor may recommend cardiac rehabilitation.
This program includes specialized workouts and guidance on smoking cessation and dietary modifications.
Advanced Procedures and Interventions
If conventional treatments fall short, your doctor may suggest the following interventions:
- Coronary bypass surgery to reroute blood around blocked arteries
- Heart valve repair or replacement for damaged valves
- Implantable cardioverter defibrillator to restore normal heart rhythm
- Cardiac resynchronization therapy (biventricular pacemaker) to synchronize lower heart chambers
- Ventricular assist device as a temporary heart substitute
- Heart transplant for severe cases unresponsive to surgery or medication, involving the replacement of a damaged heart with a healthy donor heart.
Being informed about these diverse treatment avenues ensures that individuals can actively participate in decisions about their heart failure management. You can consult the best heart doctor in Pakistan for heart management by booking an appointment through Healthwire’s platform.
