Causes of Congestive Heart Failure and its common symptoms

Congestive Heart Failure or simply the heart failure is actually a condition where the heart cannot be able to pump sufficient blood to the other organs in the body. The transportation of blood through out the body is very much important whether it is a human being or any other. If the blood does not move properly throughout the body, then it may lead to many different problems and can be severe.

There are plenty of causes of Congestive Heart Failure, which a person must be aware of, so that if such problem suddenly occurs, you should be capable of handling it. Here are the major results that occur from this condition are:

• Narrowed arteries, which supply the blood to the heart muscle. This is known as coronary artery disease
• High blood pressure
• Myocardial infraction, or past heart attack, with scar tissue, which then interferes with the normal work of heart muscle
• Heart valve disease that occurred because of the past rheumatic fever or due to other causes
• Primary disease of the heart muscles that is called as cardiomyopathy
• Infection of the heart valves called endocarditis, and the heart muscle itself called myocarditis
• Heart defects that remains present at the time of birth called congenital heart defects

The failing heart will go on functioning, but not as efficient as it should be. People suffering from heart failure cannot exert themselves, as they face short of breath and gets tired very soon. This all happens, as the blood flows out slowly from the heart, the further procedure remains apart making the blood not to enter into the veins that ultimately causes congestion in the tissues. With this, the swelling (Edema) is also the result of the same. Most of the time, what happens is that the swelling occur in the legs as well as in ankles. However, it could be found in other parts of the body as well.

In some of the cases, the fluid becomes stuck into the lungs and starts interfering while breathing. This causes the shortness of breath, particularly at the time when a person is lying down on the bed or on the floor. Due to heart failure, the kidney’s are also get affected, as it does not possess the ability anymore to dispose of the water and sodium. Apart from this, the retained water in the kidneys raises the edema. The most common causes of congestive heart failure are:

• Diabetes
• Heart attacks
• Uncontrolled high blood pressure
• Too much alcohol
• Viral infection of the heart

Besides the causes of congestive heart failure, one must also consider and be aware of the symptoms of the same condition. Well, the symptoms include:

• Swollen ankles
• Shortness of breath
• Coughing and wheezing
• Fatigue and weakness
• Breathing difficulties at the night or else when a person is lying down

Apart from this, the other symptoms are:

• Constipation
• Urination during night
• Abdominal pain, or bloating, or loss of appetite
• Pale skin and cold hands or the feet
• Accumulation of fluid in the abdomen
• Bluish skin around the mouth