Causes of Congestive Heart Failure

Rejekine. Many disease processes can impair the efficiency of pumping of the heart to cause congestive heart failure. In America, the causes of the most common of congestive heart failure are:

1. coronary artery disease,
2. High blood pressure (hypertension),
3. Prolonged alcohol abuse, and
4. diseases of the heart valves.

The causes are less common include viral infections of the heart muscle stiffness, thyroid disorders, heart rhythm disorders, and many others.
Should also be noted that in patients with underlying heart disease, taking certain medications can lead to the development or worsening of congestive heart failure. This is especially true for drugs that can cause the detention of sodium or affect the strength of the heart muscle. Examples of such drugs are medications anti-inflammatory drugs commonly used drugs (NSAIDs), which include ibuprofen (Motrin and others) and naproxen (Aleve and others) as well as certain steroids, some diabetes drugs and some calcium channel blockers.

Symptoms of Congestive Heart Failure

The symptoms of congestive heart failure vary among individuals according to specific organ systems involved and depending on the degree of her entire body had been "compensate" for the heart muscle weakness.
The early symptoms of congestive heart failure is fatigue. While fatigue is a sensitive indicator of possible underlying congestive heart failure, it is clear that non-specific symptoms that may be caused by many other conditions. Person's ability to exercise may also be reduced. Patients may not even feel this reduction, and they may subconsciously reduce their activities to accommodate these limitations.
When the body becomes too burdened with the fluid from congestive heart failure, swelling (edema) of the ankles and the legs or abdomen may be recorded.
In addition, fluid may berakmulasi in the lungs, thus causing shortness of breath, especially during sports / exercise and when lying flat. In some instances, patients awake at night, gasping for air.
Some may not be able to sleep unless sitting upright.
Extra fluid in the body may cause increased urination, especially at night.
The accumulation of fluid in the liver and intestines may cause nausea, abdominal pain, and decreased appetite.