Heart failure is a condition that affects over 5 million people in the United States. It is when the heart looses the ability to pump blood to the body sufficiently. There could be fluid build up, abnormalities, or coronary artery diseases that could cause the heart to stop or slow down the pumping of blood. Heart failure can occur as an acute attack or as a longstanding condition that is called chronic heart failure. Chronic heart failure affects over 10% of people over the age of 80 and the chances of this occurring greatly increases after the age of 50.

Symptoms

The symptoms of heart failure can consist of coughing, shortness of breath, swollen extremities, painful abdomen, tiredness, wheezing, dizziness, and fainting. All or some of these symptoms could occur at once. Once any of these symptoms occur and do not seem to go away it is best to seek medical attention.

Diagnosis

The best way to determine if there is heart failure and not something else is to have a physical exam, xrays, an EKG or and ECG, possibly an MRI or cardiac catheterization. The physician will determine the best cause of action to take depending on the presented symptoms.

Treatment

The treatment of heart failure whether it is acute or chronic is with diuretics which reduce the build up of fluid in the body, beta blockers, ACE inhibitors, ARB’s, channel blockers, vasodilators, or angioplasty. Depending on what the long term or short term treatment is one or several of these treatments may be used. With chronic heart failure the patient has been dealing with a heart condition for a long period of time and the doctor has a special treatment plan set up that is specifically designed for long term treatment.

Prognosis

The prognosis for chronic heart failure can be pretty good if it is caught early and treated vigorously. An acute heart failure can be treated with a good outcome if the situation is handled with an open mind as to what the causes are it can be treated and remedied. Also depending on the age and the medical history of the patient the physician will determine the channel of health that is necessary.

With today’s advanced technology and health regimen many people that have acute or chronic heart failure still go on to live a happy and healthy life. Age, health, lifestyle and spiritual well being play a major role in the healing process of any heart failure patient, and sometimes death is a result of heart failure but in more cases than not lives are saved every day.

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