OPPapers.com

Heart Failure

Heart Failure
Heart failure occurs when the heart is not pumping as well as it should be, and thus cannot deliver blood to the rest of the body. A human body is dependent on the heart in order to deliver oxygen and nutrient-rich blood to the body's cells. If the body's cells are not nourished properly, the body cannot function the way it normally should. When the heart does not supply the body's cells with enough blood, everyday activities become much harder. Tasks such as climbing stairs or even walking can cause fatigue and shortness of breath. Heart failure affects nearly five million Americans currently and 550,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. Heart failure is a very serious condition that can be managed properly when recognized and treated with various medications and healthy lifestyle changes.
Heart failure can involve either the left or right side of the heart, or both sides. In most cases, the left side is usually affected first. Each side has two chambers-the atrium and the ventricle. The atrium's job is to receive blood into the heart and the ventricle's job is to pump the blood to the necessary and appropriate places that it needs to go. If the atrium or the ventricle loses their ability to keep up with the amount of blood blow, heart failure is a likely result.
Heart failure does not develop quickly; it is usually a chronic disease. Heart failure is a long-term condition that becomes increasingly worse as more and more time passes by. Before heart failure can be diagnosed, the heart has probably lost a lot of its pumping capacity slowly over time. The heart does several things to make up for this in the short run such as enlarging, developing more muscle mass, and pumping faster. As the heart chamber enlarges, it stretches further and therefore can contract more forcefully which leads to pumping more blood. When the contracting cells of the heart enlarge, there is an increase in muscle mass. Initially, this allows the heart to pump more...