Heart Failure

Heart failure is a condition or stage in which the heart is unable to pump enough blood to meet the needs of the body's tissues. It is not a disease. Heart failure is different from heat attack. In latter case, heart ceases to beat while in former case, heart weakens, over the periods (months or years), and it is unable to pump out all the blood that enters its chambers. Consequently, fluids tend to build up in the lungs and tissues which causes congestion. This condition is called “heart failure” (it was used to be called "congestive heart failure," until 2005).
Ways of Heart Failure.
Heart failure can occur in various ways:
The ventricles or the muscles of the heart pumps become thin and weakened. Due to their stretching (dilate), heart cannot pump the blood with sufficient force to reach all the body's tissues.
Sometimes, the heart muscles stiffen or thicken as they lose elasticity and cannot relax. Thus, inadequate blood enters the chamber and therefore, not enough blood is pumped out into the body.
Valves open or close to control the flow of blood entering or leaving the heart. Sometimes the valves of the heart are abnormal. When they narrow, as in aortic stenosis, back up of blood occurs, or they may close improperly so that blood leaks back into the heart. The mitral regurgitation is a condition where mitral valve regulates blood flow between the two chambers on the left side of the heart often becomes leaky in severe heart failure .
Sometimes the very mechanisms that the body uses to compensate for inefficient heart pumping can, over time, change the architecture of the heart, called, remodeling and finally lead to irreversible problems.
Heart failure, depending on whether it occurs on the left or right sides of the heart, has the specific effects on the body Over the time, however, the organs in the body do not receive enough oxygen and nutrients, and the body's wastes are removed slowly. Gradually, vital systems break down.
Failure on the Left Side (Left-Ventricular Heart Failure).
The failure can be a result of abnormal systolic (contraction) or diastolic (relaxation) action: Failure on the left side of the heart is more common than failure on the right side.
Systolic. Systolic heart failure is a problem of pumping. In systolic failure, the heart muscles weaken and cannot pump enough blood to tissues. The left ventricle is usually stretched (dilated). As a results, fluid backs up and accumulates in the lungs (pulmonary edema). This heart failure usually occurs in men between the ages of 50 - 70 years who have had a heart attack.
Diastolic. Diastolic heart failure is a problem of filling. The left ventricle muscle becomes stiff and does not relax properly between heartbeats and the heart cannot fill fully with blood. As a result, fluid entering the heart backs up. Therefore, the veins in the body and tissues surrounding the heart to swell and become congested. This is typically seen in women, overweight, and elderly, and have high blood pressure and diabetes.
Failure on the Right Side (Right-Ventricular Heart Failure). This is usually a result of failure on the left. This is due to the fact that the right ventricle receives blood from the veins, and failure of heart causes the blood to back up. As a result, the veins in the body and tissues surrounding the heart to swell and in various other parts like feet, ankles, legs, and abdomen. Also, pulmonary hypertension which is increase in pressure in the lung's pulmonary artery and other lung diseases may also cause right-sided heart failure.
Ejection Fraction.
In order to determine the severity of left-sided heart failure, an ejection fraction (EF) calculation. This is also called a left-ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). This gives percentage of the blood pumped out from the left ventricle during each heartbeat. An ejection fraction of 50 - 75% is considered normal. Patients who have left-ventricular heart failure are classified as either having a preserved ejection fraction (greater than 50%) or a reduced ejection fraction (less than 50%). The former are more likely to be female and older, and have a history of high blood pressure and atrial fibrillation. More studies are needed to focus on patients with preserved LVEF so as to establish better treatment options.