July 9, 2013
Congestive heart failure, also called CHF, is a serious disease when the heart muscles have been damaged or has to work hard due to other diseases. Common complications of a heart attack and other types of heart disease that damage the heart can result in CHF. Congestive heart disease can affect both right and left sides of the heart, but can affect one more than the other. In left-sided congestive heart failure, the left side is damaged and is unable to pump blood from the heart to the body. When this occurs, blood backs you into the lungs and increases pressure in the lungs. The pressure causes fluid to build up in the lungs, which can be life-threatening. With right-sided congestive heart failure, the heart is damaged and unable to properly pump the blood flowing from the body back to the heart. This causes a backup of blood and an increase of pressure in the veins that carry the blood to the heart. This results in swelling, also called edema, of the lower extremities or other areas of the body. …show more content…
This happens because the heart is damaged and does not pump the blood efficiently. Symptoms may develop slowly, or you may not have symptoms until the congestive heart failure has progressed and is severe. Damage to the left-side of the heart can cause shortness of breath or difficulty breathing due to the buildup of fluid in the lungs. The shortness of breath or difficulty breathing can occur at rest or with exertion. The buildup of fluid in the lungs can also cause wheezing, chest pain, or productive blood tinged