Congestive Heart Failure

Congestive Heart Failure

Introduction

In United States, the rate of heart diseases is continuously elevating. Research studies propose that lifestyle and diet are main factors of the diseases like obesity, diabetes, and cardio vascular disorders. One of the complex and urgent treatment requiring conditions is congestive heart failure.

Congestive Heart Failure

Congestive heart failure is the reduction of heart function to fulfill the demand of oxygen and other nutrients, of body. Cardiac output declines leading to inadequate volume of blood returning to heart. As a result, fluid leaks into the extra cellular from blood capillaries causing swelling, weakness, and shortness of breath.

Etiology

There are four broad causes of CHF encompassing genetics of cardiomyopathy, underlying causes, precipitating causes such as medications and underlying causes, and fundamental causes. Underlying causes are abnormalities in structure affecting cardiac valves, myocardium, pericardium, and coronary arterial circulation. Physiologic and biochemical mechanisms are fundamental causes while restrictive, arrhythmic right ventricular and dilated cardiomyopathies are genetic factors of CHF. In women, patent ductus arteriosus is one of the reasons of CHF (Adler et al, 2013).

Mortality and Morbidity

In United States, the prevalence and occurrence of CHF is high in recent immigrants, Native Americans, Hispanics, and Blacks. The hospitalization occurred due to CHF is about 2% where as the re-hospitalization rate of CHF patients is 50%. In case of old age people, heart failure is the main cause of hospitalization (Parikh & Kadowitz, 2013). About 34% of the annual deaths allied to heart failure.

Risk Factor

Several risk factors of CHF are diabetes, family history of heat disease, cardiomyopathy (enlargement of heart muscle), abnormal valves of heart, heat attack, and hypertension.

Pathophysiology

Excessive peripheral demands, primary muscle disease, loss of muscle, pressure and volume overload, and other consequences develop CHF. The contractility of heart muscle reduces causing decline in cardiac ...