Essay On Heart Failure

The heart functions to take deoxygenated blood from the body and pump it to the lungs to re-oxygenate it, to pump it back through the body. Without this system, body tissues wouldn’t get oxygen and therefore not function and the person would not survive. The function of the left side of the heart is to take oxygenated blood from the lungs and pump it out to and through the rest of the body. This is the systemic circulation of the heart. With every body system there are homeostatic imbalances and one for the cardiac system is heart failure. Heart failure on the left side can happen in two ways, systolic heart failure and diastolic heart failure. A systolic heart failure is when the left ventricle cannot contract normally, which causes a decreased amount of oxygenated blood in the body because the heart cannot pump the blood efficiently. A diastolic heart failure is when the left ventricle cannot relax normally. This is because the heart muscle stiffens and it makes it so the ventricle cannot properly fill
Shortness of breath or dyspnea and fatigue can be symptoms of a heart failure. This is because if the heart is not able to pump the oxygenated blood out to the rest of the body, the body will be low on oxygen and therefore have the need to breath heavy or feel light headed. Another sign can be chronic wheezing and edema or a build up of fluid. These are caused by the backup of the blood in the veins, which causes back up in body tissues. Because all body systems are no longer getting the oxygen needed, other systems are affected as well. The digestive system can be altered because of the decrease of blood flow, which can lead to symptoms of nausea or loss of appetite. A major symptom or sign of heart failure is rapid heart rate. This is due to the fact that the heart isn’t properly working so it tries to make up for itself. To get oxygenated blood out to the body, the heart will pump