Congestive Heart Failure

Heart failure (HF) often called congestive heart failure (CHF) is generally defined as the inability of the heart to supply sufficient blood flow to meet the needs of the body. Heart failure can cause a number of symptoms including shortness of breath, leg swelling, and exercise intolerance. The condition is diagnosed with echocardiography and blood tests. Treatment commonly consists of lifestyle measures (such as smoking cessation, light exercise including breathing protocols, decreased salt intake and other dietary changes) and medications, and sometimes devices or even surgery.

Common causes of heart failure include myocardial infarction and other forms of ischemic heart disease, hypertension, valvular heart disease, and cardiomyopathy. The term "heart failure" is sometimes incorrectly used to describe other cardiac-related illnesses, such as myocardial infarction (heart attack) or cardiac arrest, which can cause heart failure but are not equivalent to heart failure.

Heart failure is a common, costly, disabling, and potentially deadly condition. In developed countries, around 2% of adults suffer from heart failure, but in those over the age of 65, this increases to 6–10%.

This text uses material from Wikipedia licensed under CC BY-SA

Latest Spotlight News

Study of vocal impersonations reveals how we manipulate our voices

A study of vocal impersonations has shown for the first time how speech production and voice perception systems in the brain interact to influence the way our voices sound. The research, supported by the ...

Researchers pinpoint how smoking causes osteoporosis

(Medical Xpress)—Human bone breaks down and regenerates naturally all the time, in a perfectly balanced dance that maintains skeletal integrity.

New paper offers insights into how cancer cells avoid cell death

(Medical Xpress)—A new study by a team of researchers from the University of Notre Dame provides an important new insight into how cancer cells are able to avoid the cell death process. The findings may ...

Study shows cultural images may hinder proficiency in second language skills

(Medical Xpress)—A team of combined researchers from Columbia Business School and Singapore Management University has found that people who have learned a second language become less proficient at speaking ...

Key protein is linked to circadian clocks, helps regulate metabolism

Inside each of us is our own internal timing device. It drives everything from sleep cycles to metabolism, but the inner-workings of this so-called "circadian clock" are complex, and the molecular processes behind it have ...

The discerning fruit fly: Linking brain-cell activity and behavior in smell recognition

Behind the common expression "you can't compare apples to oranges" lies a fundamental question of neuroscience: How does the brain recognize that apples and oranges are different? A group of neuroscientists ...

Study suggests new approach to fight lung cancer

Recent research has shown that cancer cells have a much different – and more complex – metabolism than normal cells. Now, scientists at The University of Texas at Dallas have found that exploiting these differences might ...

Scientists catch EGFR passing a crucial message to cancer-promoting protein

Researchers have discovered and mapped the signaling network between two previously unconnected proteins, exposing a link that, if broken, could cut off cancer cell growth at its starting point.

Getting enough sleep could help prevent type 2 diabetes

Men who lose sleep during the work week may be able to lower their risk of developing Type 2 diabetes by getting more hours of sleep, according to Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute (LA BioMed) research findings presented ...

Aspirin may fight cancer by slowing DNA damage

Aspirin is known to lower risk for some cancers, and a new study led by a UC San Francisco scientist points to a possible explanation, with the discovery that aspirin slows the accumulation of DNA mutations in abnormal cells ...