Heart Failure - Symptoms, Causes and Diagnosis

With rising standards of living and ever increasing luxuries being embedded in our lives, problems too are rising though at a gradual pace.The problems so rising are now being known as the silent invaders which do not show their effects in initial stages but can even suck the lives out of the bodies drop by drop if not uprooted at the right time.

One of the top grossing problems popping up these days is the heart failure. Now don’t get confused with heart failure to be stoppage in functioning of heart. It basically is a condition in which the heart cannot pump efficiently enough to meet the body’s need for blood. Contrary to its name, heart failure does not mean the heart has failed completely. Heart does not pump enough blood. Blood backs up in veins and body does not get enough blood, food, and oxygen.

Symptoms

As it has been told, such problems are silent invaders which do not show any signs at time of entering the body. But still, some symptoms could be identified to deal with the problem before it is too late.Some of the symptoms are:

• Shortness of breath, especially when lying down or exercising
• Tired, rundown feeling
• Swelling or wheezing especially when lying down or exercising
• Swelling in feet, ankles and legs
• Weight gain
• Needing two or more pillows at night or sleeping while sitting.

These are some of the many symptoms which you might face before or while having a heart failure. If you detect any of those, it is the warning sign and you should see the doctor as soon as possible.

Causes

Heart failure is more common as we age, but anyone can develop heart failure. As it is said that a thing breaks not just with one hit, but needs to have many hits simultaneously. Just like that, there could be many causes of such devious problem.

The most common cause is when the heart does not get the blood supply and its muscles are damaged. This can happen when there has been a heart attack or history of uncontrolled high blood pressure. Other causes are:

• Virus infection of heart
• When rhythm is not normal
• Valves of the heart are damaged
• Excessive alcohol intake
• Obesity
• Recreational drugs
• After some chemotherapy drugs for cancer treatment
• In multi-organ involvement during a severe infection

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