Causes and Treatments of Heart Failure



Causes and Treatments of Heart Failure

Introduction

Heart failure, also sometimes called congestive heart failure, occurs when heart is not able to provide necessary pump to distribute flow of blood to the parts of body. Heart failure is the leading cause of mortality with rising prevalence throughout the world. Heart failure is actually the final stage of many heart diseases. The treatment of heart failure relies upon the pharmacological interventions in conjunction with exercise and diet plans. Some common causes of heart failure include myocardial infarction and other forms of heart diseases, cardiomyopathy and hypertension. Recently psychological impact on heart diseases and heart failure has also been explored. There have been studies that have explored the impact of depression, anxiety, level of social support etc on the occurrence of heart failure. There are many symptoms of a heart failure such as breadth shortness, swelling of legs, and intolerance of exercise.

The cardiovascular disease can also be thought of as a complication of emotional problems and vice versa. Heart failure can include either or both the sides of heart but usually it involve the left side which causes fluids filling up the lungs and ultimately causing shortness of breath. There is a lot of evidence favoring the positive relationship of cardiovascular diseases with the psychological disorders. The conditions of associated with the risk of heart failure are possible to diagnose before any evidence from the patients of heart disease. Early treatment of these symptoms can reduce the risk of many heart diseases and this can contribute to improved conditions of individual health. The paper discusses the causes and treatment options of heart failure and the consideration of patient education on reducing the causes of heart failure.

Discussion

Almost 5 million people, which amount to 2 percent of US population, are impacted by heart diseases. Diabetes affects almost 20 million people of United States while hypertension affects almost 65 Americans. Heart failure accounts for almost 6.5 million hospital admissions each year. The cost of heart failure can be evaluated from the fact that more dollars are spent on heart diseases that any other disease in America. It is very common disease that has a very high death rate which is still on the rise despite all the advancement in technology. It is caused when supply of blood decreases and the proper oxygen may not be met to the body. The two basic types of heart failure are diastolic and systolic. When heart cannot properly fill with the blood, it causes diastolic heart failure while on the other hand systolic heart failure is caused when heart cannot properly pump blood to the body. Both these diseases decrease cardiac output.

Systolic heart failure is the common of the two and caused by either heart attack or continuous high blood pressure. Diastolic heart failure may be caused by dysfunctional heart valves. Another most common cause of heart failure is hypertension. The body, after developing heart failure, compensates for the decrease in cardiac ...