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here for Multimedia Lecture on Heart Failure!
What is Congestive Heart Failure (CHF)?
How common is CHF
How serious is CHF
What are the causes of
CHF?
What are the symptoms
or complaints of CHF?
How does the body respond
to CHF?
What is Diastolic heart
failure?
How is CHF diagnosed?
How is CHF treated?
What is Congestive Heart
Failure or CHF? The body is made up of
living cells that require a constant supply of oxygen
and nutrients in order to survive and remain functional.
This "fuel" (oxygen and nutrients) is delivered
to the body cells in the form of blood that is pumped
by the heart. If the heart muscle weakens, the amount
of blood pumped is proportionately reduced. Heart failure
occurs when the heart is unable to pump enough blood
to meet the usual demands of the body.
The circulation of blood within
the body is carried out within a closed circuit. In
other words, all the blood that is pumped to the body
is returned to the heart.
Imagine a pumping water station that
sends a constant river-like stream through fields and
valleys that have no other source of life-sustaining
water. The river runs a circular course up a hill and
then back to the pump station (as shown above).
Now imagine that the pump has started
to weaken and is unable to efficiently pump water uphill.
What would happen? As the water supply to the fields
is reduced, the plants start to wither away and turn
brown. Also, as less water is pumped forward, the level
of water behind the pump begins to rise as the pump
cannot keep up with the return. This is comparable to
the water level rising behind a dam and flooding fields
and valleys that lie behind it.
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Similar to the example above, the
rising back pressure of blood in a failing or weakened
heart is faced by all parts (liver, lungs, legs, etc.)
of the body that empty into the pump. These organs get
congested or "flooded" with fluid as a result
of the back pressure. The congestion of the body due
to back pressure from a failing heart is known as congestive
heart failure or CHF.
The reduced forward flow of the pump directly impacts
on all areas that it supplies blood to. For example,
fatigue will occur if the muscles in the arms and legs
get a reduced supply of oxygen and nutrients (carried
by blood).
How common is CHF? Heart
failure is a common condition that affects more than
4.5 million people in the USA, with nearly half a million
new cases being diagnosed each year.
- Approximately, 1.2 to 2% of the population has
heart failure, and 75-80% of these patients are greater
than 65 years of age (in whom the likelihood of heart
failure increases to 6-10%)
- It is also estimated that nearly 20 million
people have unsuspected heart failure, and are likely
to develop symptoms in the next 1 -5 years.
- Heart failure is responsible for >11
million visits to a physician's office and results
in 3.5 million hospitalizations per year. One-third
of these patients require repeat hospitalization within
three months.
Reference: The Am J Cardiol 83 (2A), Jan 21, 1999
How serious is CHF? Each
year, approximately a quarter of a million people die
from heart failure.
- The number of deaths from heart failure, either
as a primary or secondary cause has increased 6-fold
over the last 40 years.
- It is the leading cause of hospitalization in in
people who are 65 years or older.
- The risk of death is 5 - 10% per year in patients
with mild symptoms and as high as 30-40% in those
with severe disease.
- Annually, it is estimated that $25-40 billion is
spent in the USA, in the care of patients with heart
failure, $8-15 billion is spent in hospitalizations
and the rest in medications, home health care, etc.
The estimates do not include indirect costs such as
loss of productivity.
- The cost of hospitalization for heart failure is
twice that for all forms of cancer.
Reference: The Am J Cardiol 83 (2A), Jan 21, 1999
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