Everything You Need to Know about Heart Failure
Are you worried that Heart Failure marks the end of your life? We are here to clear your worry. Although heart failure is a serious condition, it’s not the end of your story! Let us help you with Heart Failure Awareness by answering some of the most common questions people have and searching about it on the internet. In this blog, you will read about Heart failure, symptoms of Heart Failure, reasons why the heart fails, prevention tips, and advanced non-surgical and safe heart failure treatment. These pieces of information through our blog attempt to help you understand this heart condition and its management!
What is Heart Failure?
Heart Failure, one of the cardiovascular diseases, is a condition where your heart doesn’t work efficiently. This low efficiency of your heart means that it doesn’t pump blood properly to your body parts, which causes several problems.
Let us explain to you normal heart functioning and what changes when you suffer from heart failure.
Normal Heart Working vs. Heart Failure
Your heart is a muscular organ with four chambers (two upper ones- atria; two below ones- ventricles) and has strong muscular walls. These walls help your heart chambers to circulate blood in a synchronised way. The heart’s left ventricle chamber does the work of pumping blood to our body parts.
But, when heart failure happens, this doesn’t work like normal!
In heart failure, these heart muscles become too weak for many reasons, and the left ventricle isn’t able to pump blood. Due to weak muscles, the heart pressurises itself and enlarges, pumps faster, and meets the demands. This overload of work worsens your condition and leads to heart failure symptoms that show up later!
Does Heart Failure Mean the Heart Stops Beating?
No, heart failure does not mean your heart stops beating! It just means your heart cannot pump enough blood required for your body to function appropriately. And it is possible to manage a heart failure condition to a great extent with simple changes and a doctor’s advice!
How Much Does a Heart Pump in Normal Conditions?
Normally, your heart pumps about 50-65% of blood in one heartbeat to the rest of the body parts. The remaining blood stays in your heart. This pumping capacity of the heart, when lower than 50%, causes heart failure. But you should not fear; lower heart pumping can be increased via many treatment options.
What Can Be the Per Day Fluid Intake for a Heart Failure Patient?
Many feel that liquid intake for a heart failure patient should not be more than 1.5 or 2 litres a day. But, experts say that it depends on you, your urine output and environmental conditions. In places like India, especially during the summers, sweating occurs, and this limit may increase to 2-2.5 litres. You should consult a doctor to know your (a heart patient’s) intake limit!
Types of Heart Failure
The types of heart failure based on the two sides of the heart are- Left-sided heart failure (the left ventricle fails to either contract or relax to pump blood) and Right-sided heart failure (the right ventricle fails to function properly). Congestive heart failure is another type where body tissues congest due to fluid accumulation.
Based on the duration, the heart failure types can be Acute heart failure (short-term) and Chronic heart failure (long-term).
What are the Stages of Heart Failure?
Stage A (At risk for heart failure)
You do not have symptoms but have heart failure risk factors.
Stage B (Pre-heart failure)
You do not have symptoms but have structural heart disease or other risk factors.
Stage C (Symptomatic heart failure)
You experience signs and symptoms of heart failure.
Stage D (Advanced heart failure)
You suffer from severe symptoms that affect your daily life, and you require hospitalisation.
What are the Signs and Symptoms of Heart Failure?
Some of the common and prominent symptoms of Heart Failure that you should know are listed! It is to make you aware and prompt you to go for a heart health check-up if you ever experience these symptoms for a long time.
Shortness of breath occurs because the excess blood (due to low pumping out) in your heart may reach the lungs.
Swelling in your legs when the blood flows down and reaches your legs.
Low urine output also occurs as low blood reaches the kidneys and disrupts the function of urine filtration.
Weight gain, including swollen face and stomach, due to excess fluid accumulation in the body parts.
Weakness and dizziness happen due to low oxygen supply, which occurs because of less blood pumping.
Coughing may be another sign due to fluid build-up in the lungs, affecting its function.
Basically, these symptoms are variable; the low pumping capacity of the heart causes fluid to fill up different body parts. These fluid accumulation symptoms are the symptoms you can experience when you suffer from heart failure.
What Causes Heart Failure to Occur?
Heart failure reasons vary. There are many risk factors apart from these, like overweight, heart-related disorders, other medical conditions, and many more. Some of the common causes of heart failure, not limited to these, are for your awareness.
One of the main reasons for Heart failure is a heart attack, as it may damage heart muscles. Coronary Artery Disease also may be one reason.
Your heart can fail to function if you have high blood pressure (hypertension) because the heart begins to overwork and become stiff/weak.
Chemotherapy treatments also weaken your heart, and its pumping capacity lowers to a level.
Some medicines, when taken for long or overdose, may impact the heart and affect how it works.
Pregnant women often undergo anatomical changes, which may be one of the causes of low heart pumping capacity.
Viral infections, be it normal flu, chikungunya, corona, or dengue, can be a reason for heart failure.
Which Tests Can Help Diagnose Heart Failure?
Heart failure diagnosis starts with clinical examination and blood tests. Then, diagnostic tests like a Cardiogram, specifically a 2D Echocardiogram (2D Echo), prove useful in detecting damage to heart muscles. They diagnose the pumping capacity of the heart, which helps to decide the degree of heart failure, its stages, and treatment to relieve the symptoms.
How Can You Prevent or Manage Heart Failure?
Preventing and managing heart failure is possible by maintaining your lifestyle. You should quit smoking and limit alcohol intake. Apart from that, you should maintain a decent weight, intake a healthy balanced diet, keep yourself physically active, and stay hydrated. One of the most important prevention tips for heart failure is to go for heart check-ups regularly, especially if you suffer from some heart or other medical conditions.
What Treatments Are Available for Heart Failure?
Heart failure needs proper management. Usually, medications are given to patients to manage mind heart failure. For major cases, specialists suggest heart transplants and bypass surgery-like invasive procedures to treat heart failure. Yet, the best part of new technological advancement is non-invasive methods (EECP and ESMR) to treat heart failure.
Lyfstyle Wellness is the leading clinic to provide non-invasive treatments for heart failure. Dr. Swapnil Shah is the best healthcare professional who can help you find relief from heart failure symptoms and complications. The team understands your condition and supports you throughout your consultation, diagnosis, and treatment journey. If you have more concerns related to heart failure or other heart conditions, feel free to reach out for the best therapeutic care.