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Heart Failure
Congestive heart failure (CHF), also called heart failure, is an often-fatal condition in which the heart muscle becomes weakened and lacks the strength to adequately pump blood throughout the body. As a result of this poor circulation, blood and fluid begin collecting in organ tissue. Most often, heart failure is thought of as a chronic and progressive illness resulting from a variety of cardiac problems, including ischemic and valvular heart disease, cardiomyopathy, hypertension, and abnormal diastolic or systolic function. As the population lives longer, surviving heart diseases, more people will go on to develop heart failure. However, heart failure may also develop suddenly, particularly as a complication of acute myocardial infarction (heart attack) or as an acute exacerbation in patients with previously compensated chronic heart failure.
Risk factors for heart failure include smoking, obesity, lack of physical activity, and prior disease known to contribute to the condition, such as:
- Diabetes
- Hypertension (75 percent of heart failure cases have antecedent hypertension)1
- Heart attack (22 percent of male/46 percent of female heart attack suffers will be disabled with heart failure within six years)1
- Coronary Artery Disease
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) labels heart failure as “A New Epidemic.” According to NHLBI, the magnitude of the problem is large now and expected to worsen in coming years as more cardiac patients are able to survive and live longer with their disease and as the U.S. population ages.2
Prevalence
In 2002, in the United States, nearly 5 million individuals suffered from heart failure, with 550,000 new cases diagnosed.1 In people diagnosed with heart failure, sudden cardiac death occurs at 6-9 times the rate of the general population.1 In 2001, heart failure resulted in approximately 264,900 deaths in the U.S. (either as the primary cause or as a contributing factor).1 The disorder has been estimated to be the cause for 12 to 15 million physician office visits and 6.5 million hospital days each year.3
References
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