During the examination, the physician looks for an underlying cause and assesses heart function. The doctor will listen closely to the patient’s heart and lungs, ex-amine the abdomen, and assess blood flow to the arms...
Your doctor will ask you many questions about your symptoms and medical history. A frank discussion of your history and symptoms is very important in helping the doctor make an accurate diagnosis. Don’t be afraid...
Heart failure is the common final pathway for many dis-eases, and so heart failure has many causes. The causes of heart failure range from malfunction of the heart valves to infections of the heart muscle...
Most people with heart failure are treated by either an internist or a cardiologist. Who you choose to be your treating physician depends on many factors. These factors might include: The doctor’s training, board certification,...
The ejection fraction (EF) is the measure of the percentage of blood that is ejected from the main pumping chamber of the heart (the left ventricle) with each beat. A heart does not pump all...
When discussing my heart failure, I’ve heard my doctor mention the terms “systolic” and “diastolic” dysfunction. What are they? When your heart beats, it goes through two phases. In the first phase, the ventricles are...
When the left ventricle can’t pump out enough blood, blood gets backed up in the lungs (behind the left ventricle), causing pulmonary edema. Pulmonary edema is a build-up of fluid in the lungs. This fluid...
All of the risk factors for heart disease also increase the risk for heart failure. Heart failure results from other dis-eases and conditions that damage the heart. If untreated, any one of these conditions can...
The short answer is no. Congestive heart failure is a condition that is a collection of signs and symptoms. Because heart failure is not a disease, it can’t really be “cured,” although this doesn’t mean...
Heart failure is usually a chronic disease. That means it’s a long-term condition that tends to become worse gradually. By the time someone is diagnosed, chances are that the heart has been losing pumping capacity...
Yes, different ethnic groups appear to have different incidences of CHF. Further, different ethnic groups appear to use medical services at different rates. For example, studies indicate that African-Americans suffer a disproportionate incidence of cardiovascular...
No, not all CHF patients are the same. Some are sicker and require more treatment than others. When treating patients, physicians need to be able to identify how severe a patient’s CHF is. For this...
Yes, CHF is among the most serious diseases in the United States today. The fatigue and shortness of breath associated with CHF can be very debilitating, leaving some patients unable to perform even their activities...
According to the American Heart Association, nearly 5 million people experience heart failure and about 550,000 new cases are diagnosed each year in the United States. Heart failure becomes more prevalent with age. The condition...
The term congestive heart failure (CHF) is used interchangeably with the term heart failure; they both indicate the same condition. Heart failure is a condition that results from the inability of the heart to pump...