The heart is an organ of our body that pumps the blood to other vital organs. Our hearts pumps blood from its right side to the lungs in order to get oxygen. The blood rich in oxygen gets back to the left side of the heart and then it is pumped into the blood circulatory system that transfers blood throughout the body.
The heart has four chambers. Atria are two upper chambers and ventricles are two lower chambers of our heart.
The right atrium and right ventricle receive the blood through the veins and then the blood is pumped to the lungs.
The left atrium and left ventricle receive the blood from the lungs and then pump it out via aorta to the arteries, which nourish the organs and tissues of the body with the blood which is rich in oxygen.
Unlike the right ventricle, the left ventricle pumps stronger as it needs to pump the blood to the entire body.
The term heart failure is perceived like the heart stops working. But, in fact, heart failure is a condition when the tissues of the body temporarily lack of the sufficient amount of blood and oxygen as our body needs. Fortunately, as significant progress in diagnosing and treatment of heart failure has been made, patients have higher chances for living longer.
Heart failure is a medical condition which is characterized by a decreased pumping capacity of the heart. When this health condition occurs, blood is not able to move through the blood circulatory system in a proper way and starts to slow down which leads to the increase of the blood pressure in vessels. The symptoms of this condition depend on which particular area of the body suffers from reduced pumping action of the heart.
If the left side of the heart is affected, fluid accumulates in the lungs and this impairment is called pulmonary edema. Extra fluid in the lungs makes it difficult for the airways to expand when a person breathes. This results in difficult breathing.
In case the right side of the heart functions abnormally, fluid accumulates in the area of feet and lower legs which leads to leg swelling, or edema known as pitting edema when an imprint if pressed is left. Note that non-pitting edema is not a symptom of a heart failure.
In fact, heart failure is a serious and complicated health condition, but the outcome varies from individual to individual.
This condition can develop gradually over years, or more quickly when caused by such conditions as a heart attack or heart muscle impairment.
Congestive heart failure can be of a two types – systolic or diastolic. The chances for developing this health impairment progress with the age. Besides this, patients who have risk factors for development cardiac disease are more prone to be affected by congestive heart failure.
Systolic heart failure is an impairment that happens when the pumping function of the heart is reduced. To diagnose this condition ejection fraction is used. It is a calculation of the amount of the blood is released from the left ventricle divided by the maximum volume of the left ventricle at the rest state of the heart after filling with blood. A normal ejection fraction rate is above 55%.
The condition of diastolic heart failure happens when the heart is stiff while relaxing and filling with blood in spite the fact it contracts in a proper way. This results in not filling with blood properly and leads to the backup into the lungs and the symptoms of a heart failure appear. Diastolic heart failure is an impairment that is more typical for patients above 75 years of age, particularly in those suffering from high blood pressure. Besides, women are more prone to this health condition.
Generally, heart failure affects 2% of the people. Almost 4 million have heart failure and about half a million new cases of this condition are diagnosed each year.
The statistics says that heart failure are experienced by 1% of individuals above 50 years, about 5% of those above 75 years old, and 25% of those who are 85 years old or older. The most of medications for senior people are available in online canadian drugstore without prescirptions.
A number of senior people who are affected by this condition keeps on rising. The mortal rate of heart failure is nearly 10% after a year, and approximately half of the patients with this condition die within 5 years after the diagnosis were made.