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Heart failure
hideHeart failure (HF) is a condition in which a problem with the structure or function of the heart impairs its ability to supply sufficient blood flow to meet the body's needs. It should not be confused with cardiac arrest (see Terminology, below).
Common causes of heart failure include myocardial infarction and other forms of ischemic heart disease, hypertension, valvular heart disease and cardiomyopathy. Heart failure can cause a large variety of symptoms such as shortness of breath (typically worse when lying flat, which is called orthopnea), coughing, ankle swelling and reduced exercise capacity. Heart failure is often undiagnosed due to a lack of a universally agreed definition and challenges in definitive diagnosis. Treatment commonly consists of lifestyle measures (such as decreased salt intake) and medications, and sometimes devices or even surgery.
Heart failure is a common, costly, disabling and deadly condition. In developing countries, around 2% of adults suffer from heart failure, but in those over the age of 65, this increases to 6—10%. Mostly due to costs of hospitalization, it is associated with a high health expenditure; costs have been estimated to amount to 2% of the total budget of the National Health Service in the United Kingdom, and more than $35 billion in the United States. Heart failure is associated with significantly reduced physical and mental health, resulting in a markedly decreased quality of life. With the exception of heart failure caused by reversible conditions, the condition usually worsens with time. Although some patients survive many years, progressive disease is associated with an overall annual mortality rate of 10%.
For more information about Heart failure, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with heart failure
Breathlessness eased in patients with rare, often fatal disease
9 hours ago |
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Patients with a rare, deadly disease that mostly affects young women felt a dramatic reduction in breathlessness using an approved drug, according to study results published online today in The Journal of Heart and Lung Tr ...
Heart drugs show promise for fighting colon cancer
Dec 16, 2009 |
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Scientists in Sweden are reporting for the first time that a group of drugs used to treat heart failure shows promise for fighting colon cancer. The study is in ACS' Journal of Natural Products. Colon cancer ...
Genetic link to heart failure
Dec 15, 2009 |
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A team of researchers, at Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, has identified a group of 12 genetic variants in the HSPB7 gene that is associated with heart failure in humans.
Strict blood sugar control in some diabetics does not lower heart attack, stroke risk
Dec 14, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Strictly controlling blood glucose levels in type 2 diabetics with coexisting health problems such as heart disease and hypertension does not lower their risk of a heart attack or stroke, according to a UC ...
Most eligible patients miss out on cardiac resynchronization therapy for heart failure
Dec 11, 2009 |
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Most patients with heart failure likely to benefit from a pacemaker including the capacity for cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) do not receive such an implantable device, reports a national study in the December 2009 ...
Moderate weight loss in obese people improves heart function
Dec 11, 2009 |
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Obese patients who lost a moderate amount of weight by eating less and exercising more improved their cardiovascular health, says a study at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
Italy's poor go to the hospital more
Dec 11, 2009 |
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Despite free public healthcare, Italy's poor are more likely to end up in hospital with avoidable conditions, new research shows. This pattern, reported today in the online open access journal BMC Public Health, mirrors findin ...
Bone marrow cells may significantly reduce risk of second heart attack
Dec 08, 2009 |
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Cells from heart attack survivors' own bone marrow reduced the risk of death or another heart attack when they were infused into the affected artery after successful stent placement, according to research reported in the ...
Popular diabetes drugs linked to increased risk of heart failure and death
Medicine & Health / Medications
Dec 04, 2009 |
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Sulphonylureas, a type of drug widely used to treat type 2 diabetes, carries a greater risk of heart failure and death compared with metformin, another popular antidiabetes drug.
Wide Disparities Found in Age of Hospitalization for Patients of Different Races
Dec 01, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- New research from Yale School of Public Health shows that blacks are admitted to the hospital at a significantly younger age than their white peers for a host of preventable medical conditions, ...
Heart failure linked to gene variant affecting vitamin D activation
Dec 01, 2009 |
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Previous studies have shown a link between low vitamin D status and heart disease. Now a new study shows that patients with high blood pressure who possess a gene variant that affects an enzyme critical to normal vitamin ...
Europe's device therapy use for heart failure doubles 2004-2008, some countries have low uptake
Nov 30, 2009 |
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The use of implantable devices for the treatment of heart failure increased "enormously" in Europe between the years 2004 and 2008, but there still remain large differences between countries, according to a study reported ...
New genetic cause of cardiac failure discovered
Nov 25, 2009 |
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Over the course of a lifetime, the heart pumps some 250 million liters of blood through the body. In the order to do this, the muscle fibers of the heart have to be extremely durable. The research group headed by Dr. Wolfgang ...
New tool for helping pediatric heart surgery
Nov 24, 2009 |
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A team of researchers at the University of California, San Diego and Stanford University has developed a way to simulate blood flow on the computer to optimize surgical designs. It is the basis of a new tool that may help ...
Abnormal cholesterol levels may raise risk of heart failure
Nov 23, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Even if you never have a heart attack, abnormal blood cholesterol levels may significantly raise your risk of heart failure, according to research reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart As ...
