Heart failure, also referred as congestive heart failure, is a disease that occurs when your heart is unable to pump enough blood to meet your body’s requirements.
- This can happen if your heart can’t fill up with enough blood.
- It can also happen when your heart is too weak to pump blood effectively.
- The phrase “heart failure” does not always imply that your heart has stopped.
- Heart failure, however, is a serious ailment that requires medical attention.
Around 10–12 million adults in India suffer from heart failure.
- Heart failure can develop suddenly (the acute kind) or over time as your heart gets weaker (the chronic kind).
- It can affect one or both sides of your heart. Left-sided and right-sided heart failure may have different causes like high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, an irregular heartbeat, or heart inflammation.
- Heart failure symptoms may not be sudden. Tiredness, breathing difficulty, and lower body fluid buildup are a few symptoms.
- Heart failure eventually damages the liver and kidneys.
- Your health care team diagnoses heart failure based on family history, past medical history, clinical examination, and blood tests.
- Heart failure is a serious condition. Lifestyle changes can help manage complications.
Reference:
- National Heart, Lung and Blood institute. https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/heart-failure.
- Chaturvedi V, Parakh N, Seth S, et al. Heart failure in India: The INDUS (INDia Ukieri Study) study. J Pract Cardiovasc Sci 2016;2:28-35.