Heart Failure

The term “heart failure” sounds as if the heart has already failed. This can increase a person’s anxiety especially in the aging population that is a targeted community for this disease assuming that the failure is equivalent to death. Heart failure is actually the decline in the hearts ability to sufficiently pump oxygenated blood to the rest of the body. Many people can live with heart failure and are able to manage it through lifestyle changes, prescribed medication compliance, and regular physician scheduled follow-up visits.
Heart failure is the clinical syndrome that results from the progressive process of remodeling, in which mechanical and biochemical forces alter the size, shape, and function of the ventricle’s ability to pump enough oxygenated blood to meet the metabolic demands of the body (Lippincott). So, heart failure does not mean that the heart has stopped working. It means that the heart’s pumping power is weaker than normal thus blood moving through the heart and body is slower and the pressure in the heart increases. The result is that heart cannot pump enough oxygen and nutrients to meet body’s needs. The chambers of the heart respond by stretching to hold more blood to pump through the body and eventually that causes the heart muscle walls to weaken and decrease the strength of contractility. Heart failure can be caused by a number of preexisting conditions. Typically, these conditions cause wear and tear that lead to heart failure. The primary cause of heart failure is coronary artery disease resulting from atherosclerosis. There is an increase of plaque lining the arteries that supply oxygen to the heart. These arteries become narrowed by cholesterol and fatty deposits that build up therefore obstructing blood flow to such a monumental organ. Other causes include past myocardial infarctions, hypertension, abnormal heart valves and heart muscle disease which includes dilated cardiomyopathy, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or inflammation