There is an opinion that interprets CHF with the stopped beating of the heart! But this perception is wrong. So, what is congestive heart failure (CHF)? And what are causes of this disease? -- Read also symptoms of congestive heart failure!
Generally, a condition when the heart cannot work well to deliver O2 rich blood to the body is what we call as congestive heart failure! In other words, it is the inability of our heart to pump blood adequately to meet the body needs.
And there are several causes that can lead to this problem, which may include; (1) you have a certain disease that can cause the increased requirement of O2 for the body tissue and this situation cannot be handled well by our heart, (2) we have a certain disease that can lead to stiffening of the muscles in the heart, or (3) we get a certain disease that can weaken the muscles of the heart.
Understanding causes of congestive heart failure
As well we know, the heart has two ventricles (right & left ventricle), and two atria (left & right atrium). When the muscle contract, the muscular chambers (ventricles) will pump the blood. ‘Systole’ is usually the term to call the contraction process of vertical muscles.
The pumping action of the ventricles can be easy to be disturbed by certain diseases (particularly such as certain infections (like mycoraditis) or a heart attack can weaken the muscles of ventricles). The muscle weakening can impair the pumping action of ventricles (diminished pumping ability), this condition is often called as ‘systolic dysfunction’.
Moreover, there is also a moment when the muscles of ventricles to get relax after each process of systole (ventricular contraction) in order to allow the blood to fill the ventricles (the blood comes from atria). This relaxation step is usually familiar known as ‘diastole’.
There are also several diseases that can lead to stiffening of the muscles of the heart which eventually can impair the capacity of the ventricles to fill & relax. Some of these diseases are amyloidosis and ‘iron overload’ (or also familiar called as hemochromatosis), which are often associated to the cause of diastolic dysfunction. Many doctors believe that longstanding condition of high blood pressure levels are the key answer of a hypertrophied (thickened) heart.
And as mentioned before, a congestive heart failure may also occur if there is abnormally high O2 demand by the body tissue, although there is normal condition of filling capacity & pumping action of the heart! For instance, if you have anemia or hyperthyroidism, this condition may make your heart work harder to supply an adequate blood flow (this case is often familiar known as ‘high output heart failure’)!
Organs that can get bad effect from congestive heart failure!
Heart failure may also bring bad effect to other organs of our body, such as:
- The muscles of the heart that are weakening may not able anymore to supply or deliver adequately blood to the kidneys. And if this problem keeps continuing, the kidneys will get inability to excrete sodium (salt) & water, which eventually will make our body to retain more water or fluid.
- Swelling (edema) of the feet & ankles due to the accumulation of more fluid in the extremities.
- More fluids that are accumulated in the liver, which eventually can impair the function of the liver to make essential proteins and rid the body of toxins!
- Congestive heart failure also can impair the function of the intestines to absorb medicines or nutrients, and may also lead to congested lung (people with this disorder will get decreased ability to exercise).
- And finally, untreated congestive heart failure will impair the function of every organ of our body! Read also the previous article about congestive heart failure life expectancy!
-- Image credit to ‘shutterstock’ for illustration
