Navigating Heart Failure
How Your Heart Works

Every day, your heart pumps about 2,000 gallons of oxygen and nutrient-rich blood through your body, nourishing your tissues and removing waste products from them. It’s a muscle with parts that alternatively squeeze (contract) and relax to circulate the blood and deliver it where needed.

What Does Heart Failure Mean?

Heart failure means that your heart muscle has become either weak or stiff, leading to abnormal pumping or filling of the heart, as shown. The heart can no longer keep up with the body’s needs.

As a result, organs may not receive the amount of blood they need. Symptoms like edema (swelling), weakness, and dyspnea (shortness of breath) may develop.

This is usually the end result of various forms of heart disease, but the specifics vary depending on the type of heart failure you have.

Treatment Options

A variety of medications are available to help you manage heart failure symptoms and reduce risk of hospitalization and death.

For example, beta blockers, ACE inhibitors, and vasodilators can lower blood pressure to improve blood flow. Diuretics can help remove excess salt and water, reducing swelling.

If you’ve been told you have heart failure, help yourself by learning all you can about the condition. Become a partner with your doctor in getting the treatment you need.

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An Overview of Heart Failure

Heart failure and congestive heart failure are two terms that mean nearly the same thing. And, in fact, most doctors use them interchangeably.
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02

3 Most Common Types of Heart Failure

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3 Main Culprits Behind Heart Failure Symptoms

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Coughing and Heart Failure: Cardiac Cough Explained

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