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Diseases & Conditions

Heart Failure Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment

What causes heart failure? Is heart failure serious? Heart failure is known as the inability to pump enough blood to the body due to insufficient cardiac functions due to various reasons. Although it is a serious health problem, it can cause life-threatening dimensions if it is not treated. Heart failure, which may be acute or chronic, may affect some parts or all of the heart. In the treatment, the blood circulation in the body should be maintained healthily with the help of drug applications and various surgical interventions according to the level of disease progression. Here, we will explain the causes, symptoms, and treatment of heart failure in the text below.

About Heart Failure

A healthy heart pumps the necessary blood to the whole body, working as it should, to deliver enough blood and oxygen to all parts of the body. In the case of heart failure, sufficient blood cannot be pumped into the body. The heart may begin to enlarge and expand to tolerate this condition. This condition is also called heart enlargement. Besides, in the event of heart failure, the heart may contract more rapidly than the required rhythm and try to pump enough blood. As a result, the narrowing of the blood vessels occurs, which prevents sufficient blood from reaching significant tissues and organs. As a result, damage to tissues and organs may occur due to a disturbance in the functioning of the heart. Many factors can cause heart failure. One or more of them may play a role in the emergence of the disease.

  • Acute heart failure: Acute heart failure is defined as the sudden onset of symptoms followed by the rapid disappearance of symptoms. It is usually seen in patients who have a heart attack and often occurs due to several problems with heart valves.
  • Chronic heart failure: Most cases of heart failure belongs to chronic heart failure group. Symptoms of this type of heart failure are continuous and do not improve over time.

What Causes Heart Failure?

In general, heart failure is a disease that occurs when the heart is damaged or weakened for various reasons. Hardening of the ventricles, the heart’s blood pumping chambers, can cause the heart to fail to be filled with blood between two beats, leading to heart failure. Besides, weakening or damage of the heart muscle causes the ventricles to dilate and thus cannot pump enough blood to reach all parts of the body. Genetic factors play an important role in the development of heart failure. Individuals with a family history of heart failure are more likely to develop this disease than other individuals. Factors that can be counted among the causes of heart failure are:

  • Coronary artery disease
  • Heart attack
  • Heart valve diseases
  • Cardiomyopathy
  • Congenital heart diseases
  • Arrhythmia
  • Hypertension
  • Myocarditis (the inflammation of the heart muscle)
  • Diabetes,
  • Thyroid diseases
  • HIV
  • Alcohol and drug use
  • Some drugs used continuously
  • Obesity
Heart Failure Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment
Heart Failure Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment

Heart Failure Symptoms

The most common symptoms of heart failure are as follows:

  • Fatigue (Being exhausted quickly)
  • Shortness of breath
  • Nausea
  • Sudden weight gain
  • Chest Pain
  • Cough
  • Pink or white phlegm
  • Arrhythmia
  • Heart palpitations
  • Loss of appetite
  • Swelling of the ankles, legs, and abdomen (edema)
  • Difficulty in concentrating
  • Frequent urination at night
  • Clarification of blood vessels in the neck
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|Heart Attack Symptoms|

Heart Failure Treatment

The essential thing in the treatment process of patients with heart failure is to preserve the current health status and prevent the progression of the disease stage, as well as to reduce complications that adversely affect the patient’s daily life. Some surgical operations and drug therapies to be applied for the treatment. Necessary medications, lifestyle changes, and medical nutrition therapy should be applied for conditions such as high blood pressure, arrhythmia, coronary artery disease, diabetes that cause or increase the severity of the disease. In most cases of heart failure, the physician recommends the use of the appropriate dose and frequency of use and heart failure medications. These medications help improve heart function, alleviate problems such as shortness of breath and edema. In some cases, considering the patient’s condition and the stage of the disease, a pharmacological treatment plan may be preferred as a combination of several drugs.

Heart Failure Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment
Heart Failure Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment

Heart failure is a life-threatening disease. However, it is quite possible to minimize the risks of the disease and make daily life easier in patients who are diagnosed early, who comply with physician recommendations and who are treated. For this, it is necessary to lead a more careful life with the recommendations of the physicians of the individuals diagnosed with the disease. If you are suffering from heart failure, or if you have some of the symptoms mentioned above, you can immediately go to a health facility for a heart examination. If you get the diagnosis of the disease, you can take a precautionary measure in the early period and lead a healthy life and take precautions against any future problems.

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