|
|
|
 Congestive Heart Failure (CHF), or heart failure,
is a condition in which the heart can't pump enough blood to the body's
other organs. This can result from:
-
narrowed arteries that
supply blood to the heart muscle — coronary artery disease
-
past heart attack, or
myocardial infarction, with scar tissue that interferes with the heart
muscle's normal work
-
high blood pressure
-
heart valve disease due
to past rheumatic fever or other causes
-
primary disease of the
heart muscle itself, called cardiomyopathy.
-
heart defects present
at birth — congenital heart defects.
-
infection of the heart
valves and/or heart muscle itself — endocarditis and/or myocarditis
The "failing" heart keeps working, but not as efficiently as it should.
People with heart failure can't exert themselves because they become short
of breath and tired.
|
