Congestive Heart Failure!!

Question 1

What’s a symptom of congestive heart failure??

A. shortness of breath

B. chest pain

C. No appetite

D. all of the above

Question 2

If you are looking diagnosis you look for the signs of crackling in the heart or faulty valves T/F

Question 3

Other options besides medications are heart transplants and pace makers T/F

Question 4

Ways to prevent congestive heart failure?

A. quit smoking

B. Limit Alcohol

C. Get daily exercise

D. all of the above

Question 5

300,000 people die from congestive heart failure every year T/F

What is Congestive Heart Failure ??

Is a disease in which the heart can’t provide enough rich oxygenated blood to the heart and the rest of the body.

Causes of Congestive Heart Failure?

1. Diseases that weaken the heart muscle.

Ex: Heart attack, and infections

2. Diseases that cause the stiffening of the heart muscle.

Ex: Hemochromatosis and amyloidosis

3. Diseases that demand more oxygen for tissues that the body can provide. (Kulick)

New York Heart Association (NYHA) Classification System for Heart Failure!!

Doctors often use the New York Heart Association (NYHA) classification system to

classify symptoms of heart disease, including heart failure. The NYHA system

can help doctors determine the best course of therapy for heart failure

patients. The system relates the symptoms patients are having to the

everyday activities that cause those symptoms to get worse.

Unlike with other heart failure staging systems, the NYHA class can shift from one

level to another. This means that if patients are responding well to a

treatment and getting better, then their NYHA class would go down. If they

are not responding to treatment and their symptoms are getting worse, then

their NYHA class would go up.  (Stethoscope)

The different class levels!!

Class I(mild)Patients have heart disease, but it does not limit their physical activity. Ordinary physical activity does not cause tiredness (fatigue), heart palpitations, or shortness of breath (called dyspnea).

Class II (mild)Patients are only slightly limited during physical activity. They are comfortable at rest, but ordinary physical activity causes fatigue, heart palpitations, dyspnea, and chest pain (angina).

Class III (moderate)Patients are more limited during physical activity. They are comfortable at rest, but less-than-ordinary activity causes fatigue, heart palpitations, dyspnea, and angina.

Class IV (severe)Patients cannot do any physical activity without discomfort. Their heart failure symptoms may be present all the time, even at rest. If patients try any physical activity, their discomfort increases. (Stethoscope)

Symptoms Congestive Heart Failure!!

Shortness and trouble of catching breath when lying flat in bed

Feeling tired or weak and are unable to perform everyday tasks when it comes to exercise and other daily tasks.

Chest Pain

No appetite

Your skin tends to be sweaty and cold (Kulick)

How to figure out if someone has congestive

heart failure?Give a physical examination to the person

Listen to the chest of the person for any crackling sound or faulty valves

Chest X-ray to examine the heart to see if its bigger and has any fluid around it

EkG- to examine if there is stress or arrhythmia and signs of previous heart attacks.

Encardiograph can be used to figure out if there is a problem with the valves, heart walls or heart size. (Stethoscope)

Medications for the disease

Ace Inhibitors- blocks the formation of angiotensin 2 which can have adverse affects on the heart and the circulatory system with patients with Heart Failure.

Ex: Captopril, Vasotec and Altace just to name a few. (Kulick)

More Medication Options

Beta- Blockers - such a norepinephrine and epinephrine stop the stimulating hormones on the beta receptors of the tissues help depress the function of the heart muscle.

Ex:Torporal XL and Coreg medicines (KULICK)

Other OptionsHeart Transplant- Usually given too people that are under 70 years old and do not have other medical problems.

Theres a long waiting list to get a heart transplant, but only a select few can have the operations due to the severity of the procedure and the complications with it too.

Another less servere procedure could be getting a pacemaker to help with the contractions of the heart. (Stethoscope).

Video of the Heart Problem

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXA6LjmKsaU

Prevention Options!!Get daily exercise to improve the strength of the heart muscle.

Eat foods low in Na+ for the higher the Na+ content the more pressure that is exerted on the walls of the arteries and veins.

Quit Smoking

Limit alcohol intake

Following these will help with the prevention of the (CHF). (Stethoscope)

People Most likely to get the disease?

Most people that develop the disease are older aged men and women, but can occur in children as well just not as common.

Estimated 500 million people in United states have heart failure and an estimated 300,000 die from it.

People that usually get have diabetes, high BP and or coronary artery disease.

(Heart Failure: MedlinePlus)

Research being doneErectile disfunction is a predictor for older men to have a heart failure problem.

Studies showed that people with (ED) and (CVD) were more likely to suffer from heart failure then guys with just (CVD).

There were 1,300 different men studied from 13 different countries.

The men also had higher prevalence for hypertension and diabetes and stroke.

1.9 times more likely to die from cardiovascular disease (Erectile Dysfunction)

Works Citied

"Erectile Dysfunction Strong Predictor of Death, Cardiovascular Outcomes." AHA

Newsroom. Web. 7 May 2010. <http://americanheart.mediaroom.com/index.php?

s=43&item=986>.

"Heart Failure: MedlinePlus." National Library of Medicine - National Institutes of Health.

Web. 7 May 2010. <http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/heartfailure.html>.

Kulick, Daniel. "Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, and

Treatment Information on MedicineNet.com." Congestive Heart Failure. Web. 10 May

2010. <http://www.medicinenet.com/congestive_heart_failure/article.htm>.

Stethoscope, With A. "Congestive Heart Failure - Heart Information Center." Texas Heart

Institute. Web. 5 May 2010.

<http://www.texasheartinstitute.org/hic/topics/cond/CHF.cfm>.