Congestive Heart Failure: The Cause and Effects

Congestive heart failure is a common disease that affects 4-5 million people annually. The name of the disease is somewhat misleading in that the heart doesn't fail; but, fails to produce the output of a healthy heart resulting in symptoms in other parts of the body. Primary causes of CHF are diabetes, high blood pressure and coronary artery disease. These problems can be grouped together as well as separately.

Symptoms of CHF are varied but all are the result of poor cardiac ventricular output. Some symptoms are difficulty breathing with fluid backing up in the lungs, Edema or swelling of ankles, feet, hands and abdomen. Pitting edema occurs when you can press on your ankle for instance, and the pressure point remains prominent for a minute or so. You may also tire very easily.

In order to understand CHF, one must be familiar with minor anatomy of the heart. The heart is composed of four chambers. The top two are atrium or auricles. They accept blood that is being returned to the heart in order to be pumped to the body again. The lower two chambers are the ventricles. This is where the problem lies. The ventricles exert a mighty force to pump blood to the body. The right ventricle pumps blood to the lungs and the left ventricle pumps blood to the rest of the body. If these ventricles loose their effectiveness, the result is Congestive Heart Failure.

Diabetes and high blood pressure, as well as coronary artery disease, narrow the small vessels that feed blood to the heart for nourishment. An under nourished heart will not pump as effectively. This causes some of the blood to remain in the ventricles or the ventricles enlarge in an effort to compensate for muscle tissue that has wasted away.

The heart has a complex electrical stimulus that causes everything to work in sync. If these impulses are disrupted it can cause major problems with the hearts pumping ability. The electrical impulse begins in the sinoatrial node which is located in the right atrium. This impulse causes the atrium to contract sending blood to the ventricles. The signal follows through the atrioventricular node to the bundle of His where it is then distributed to the bundle branches of the ventricles which cause them to contract. All of these signals occur rapidly and are synchronized. If there is a problem with the conductivity it is called an arrhythmia and must be corrected, sometimes by electrical shock. This is called cardioversion

CHF can be treated with medications such as digitalis when the muscle doesn't pump effectively. A diuretic such as Lasix may be administered also to help the body get rid of the excess fluid in the lungs and extremities. If you take a diuretic, your doctor may also prescribe a medication that will replace potassium lost during urination.

If your CHF is caused by an electrical problem in the heart; for example, if your sinoatrial node is not firing properly, a pacemaker may be installed to correct this problem.

In severe cases of CHF, heart transplant may be the only cure. Qualification for a heart transplant depends on many variables such as other diseases you may have.

As a general rule, the quality of life can possibly be improved although the CHF cannot be cured entirely..