Congestive Heart Failure is a weakness in a person’s heart leading to fluid buildups in lungs and other body tissues surrounding it. About half of people who develop heart failure die within 5 years of diagnosis. Around six million people in the US have Congestive heart failure, and it is a cause of almost 55,000 deaths per year. In order to steer clear of Congestive Heart Failure you must be aware of the causes, symptoms, and even treatments which show new opportunities for people with the disease.
There is a very long list of things that can cause Congestive Heart Failure. Among that list are aging, being obese, Diabetes, and other diseases. One of the most common causes of Congestive Heart Failure is Hypertension, which is abnormally high blood pressure, causes the heart muscle to stress and pump against a lot of pressure. Having high blood pressure makes the heart work harder to pump blood, causing stiffness problems leading to muscle weakening, contributing to the development of Congestive Heart Failure. Congestive Heart Failure is also caused by heart attacks because heart attacks cause part of the heart muscle to be damaged and makes the heart pump less effectively. Another cause of Congestive Heart Failure is Cardiomyopathy, which causes the heart to get infected, causing it to become weak. Congestive Heart Failure is most common in older people because as people grow older their hearts get weaker and their blood vessels get narrower, making them more likely to get this disease. One other cause of Congestive Heart Failure is the fatty materials that go to the coronary arteries, causing blood vessels of the heart to narrow and get clogged, this is called Coronary Artery Disease. The blood leaking through d...
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... naps and big meals near bedtime. Patients will also need to ask their doctor some questions, now. These questions include things like, how much alcohol they can drink, how much physical activity should they do, how much rest they should get, and how much, if any, weight should they lose.
Congestive Heart Failure is a very serious disease that has causes, symptoms, and even treatments which show new opportunities for people with the disease. If you have any kind of disease you may eventually develop Congestive Heart Failure due to the large amount of causes. Although there are many symptoms, no one should use just one in self diagnosis, because having just one or two of the symptoms does not mean you have the disease. If you are concerned about your health and thing you may have Congestive Heart Failure, call a doctor and get treated as soon as possible.
The aim of this report is to provide an overview of chronic heart failure, examining signs symptoms and treatment related to the case study, and the anatomy and physiology of the heart will be discussed, and the pathophysiology of chronic heart failure.
Jeon, Y., Kraus, S. G., Jowsey, T., & Glasgow, N. J. (2010). The experience of living with chronic heart failure: a narrative review of qualitative studies. BMC Health Services Research. doi:10.1186/1472-6963-10-77
These causes will change the heart significantly. The pathophysiology of heart failure is described differently as: (1) an oedematous disorder, by means of which the deviations in renal hemodynamics and excretory ability lead to salt and water holding; (2) a hemodynamic disorder, considered by peripheral vasoconstriction and decreased cardiac output; (3) a neurohormonal disorder, mainly by stimulation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system and adrenergic nervous system; (4) an inflammatory syndrome, related with amplified local and circulation pro-inflammatory cytokines; (5) a myocardial disease, started with an damage to the heart trailed by pathological ventricular transformation. In heart failure, the heart sustains either a sudden or longstanding structural injury. When damage occurs, sequences of firstly compensatory but consequently maladaptive mechanisms follow (Henry & Abraham, ).
Dilated cardiomyopathy may build up over several years and not cause significant problems. However, over time the enlarged heart gradually weakens. This is called heart failure. Heart failure has several causes and cardiomyopathy is one of them.
According to the European Society of Cardiology Guidelines [ESC] (2012) heart failure is diagnosed by symptoms such as dyspnoea, fatigue, either at rest or during exertion.
Congestive Heart Failure is when the heart's pumping power is weaker than normal. It does not mean the heart has stopped working. The blood moves through the heart and body at a slower rate, and pressure in the heart increases. This means; the heart cannot pump enough oxygen and nutrients to meet the body's needs. The chambers of the heart respond by stretching to hold more blood to pump through the body or by becoming more stiff and thickened. This only keeps the blood moving for a short while. The heart muscle walls weaken and are unable to pump as strongly. This makes the kidneys respond by causing the body to retain fluid and sodium. When the body builds up with fluids, it becomes congested. Many conditions can cause heart failure, and they are Coronary artery disease, Heart attack, Cardiomyopathy, and conditions that overwork the heart.
Left-sided heart failure is the most common type of heart failure, and it is a result of left-ventricular dysfunction. This disease poses a significant threat to patients because the primary function of the left side of the heart is to provide sufficient oxygenated blood to satisfy the metabolic demands of the body’s cells. Understanding the main function of this portion of the heart will help with the understanding of other complications associated with this diseased. Left-sided heart failure is usually the result of the loss of heart muscle function, specifically in the left ventricle secondary to coronary artery disease, prolonged hypertension, or myocardial infection (Lewis et al. 2014, 766). The pathophysiology of left-sided heart failure is primary a macroscopic disorder and will be described as such.
“Heart failure is a chronic, progressive condition in which the heart muscle is unable to pump enough blood through to meet the body's needs for blood and oxygen” (American Heart Association, 2012, para 3). What this basically means is that the body is functioning in a way that the heart cannot keep up with. Although heart failure can be acute and occur suddenly, it usually develops over time and is a long-term or chronic condition. There are two different types of heart failure, left-sided and right-sided, and they can be caused by other diseases such as diabetes, coronary heart disease, or high blood pressure (National Institutes of Health, 2012). In most cases, both sides of the heart are affected simultaneously.
The scientific journal I selected discusses the cardiac disease, congestive heart failure. In this article registered nurses and doctors came together to talk about a new way to improve patients functioning lifestyle while battling with this awful disease. Discovering that with the new healthcare system the readmission rates of patients with congestive heart failure, there was something more they could do to improve the outcome of the medical setting in which these patients are being treated.
Various causes of cardiomegaly are usually the result of high blood pressure (hypertension) or coronary artery disease. This occurs when the heart does not pump blood effectively resulting in coronary heart failure.
Congested Heart Failure is a chronic condition that affects pumping power of the heart muscle. Sometimes it is just referred to “heart failure”, sometimes people without specifying can understand different. Congested heart Failure specify talks about where the fluids build up around the heart causing it to pump inefficiently. In the heart we have four chambers in which the ventricle is the one that pumps blood to the organs. Congested Heart Failure also known as CHF starts to develop when the ventricles cannot pump enough blood to the whole body. As that starts to happen the blood starts to back up inside the lungs, liver, abdomen, and lower body. As everyone knows CHF can be life threatening.
Our heart is like a double pump mechanism where the right side pumps deoxygenated blood to our lungs and the left side pumps oxygen rich blood to circulate back through our bodies. This process provides a continuous supply of oxygen and eliminates carbon dioxide waste from our body. When there is a disturbance to this process, it causes our heart the inability to pump sufficiently to meet our body’s demands. This causes the body to accumulate blood and fluid in the organs and tissues and will lead to impaired circulation or congestive heart failure. Congestive heart failure is not only the inability to maintain the adequate oxygen delivery; it’s also systemic in attempting to compensate for inadequacy. In general, there have been many great
Signs and symptoms come along with any disease, some symptoms may be noticeable but sometimes there's just no symptoms at all. The common symptom for Coronary Heart Disease is chest pain and/or discomfort. This happens when the heart is not getting oxygen and blood. How strong the chest pains are varies from patient to patient. The chest pains my feel like the heart is being squeezed. The pain may be felt below the sternum but also in the neck, arms, stomach, and upper back. The chest pain usually occurs when the patient is doing activities or is in motion but it goes away with rest or a medicine called Nitroglycerin. Other symptoms are sho...
Dilated cardiomyopathy accounts for approximately 15% of heart failure cases in the under 75s (“Chronic Heart Failure”). Patients with Dilated cardiomyopathy are usually unaware of the disease until they experience the signs and symptoms of heart failure or they develop an arrhythmia.
The aim of this scenario-based assignment is to discuss the therapeutic intervention in the care of a patient with Congestive Cardiac Failure (CCF). A brief summary of the patient’s medical history will be given while discussing one specific nursing problem in terms of heart rate/ rhythm. Also, an overview of aetiology will be given as well as pathophysiology in order to explain the rationale for treatment and monitoring. Relevant research relating to the literature will be utilised throughout in order to critically analyse the care provided for the patient and determine if the patient received evidence based up-to-date care. In accordance with the statement from the Nursing and Midwifery Council (2008) code of conduct regarding patient confidentiality, no personal details of the patient involved will be disclosed. Therefore, the patient will be identified as Mrs S.