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Diseases of The Blood
Diseases of The Blood
Diseases of The Blood
Heart failure.
Heart failure (HF), often referred to as congestive heart failure (CHF), occurs when
the heart is unable to pump sufficiently to maintain blood flow to meet the body's needs.
Causes
Common causes of heart failure include coronary artery disease including a previous myocardial
infarction (heart attack), high blood pressure, atrial fibrillation, valvular heart disease, excess
alcohol use, infection, and cardiomyopathy of an unknown cause. These cause heart failure by
changing either the structure or the functioning of the heart.
Heart failure is a common, costly, and potentially fatal condition. In developed countries, around
2% of adults have heart failure and in those over the age of 65, this increases to 610%. In the
year after diagnosis the risk of death is about 35% after which it decreases to below 10% each
year. This is similar to the risks with a number of types of cancer.
Treatment Or Medications
Doctors usually treat heart failure with a combination of medications. Depending on your
symptoms, you might take one or more medications, including:
In some cases, doctors recommend surgery to treat the underlying problem that led
to heart failure. Some treatments being studied and used in certain people include:
The ICD monitors the heart rhythm. If the heart starts beating at a
dangerous rhythm, or if your heart stops, the ICD tries to pace your
heart or shock it back into normal rhythm. An ICD can also function as
a pacemaker and speed your heart up if it is going too slow.
Heart transplant. Some people have such severe heart failure that
surgery or medications don't help. They may need to have their
diseased heart replaced with a healthy donor heart.