Related topics: heart , patients , heart attack , blood pressure , congestive heart failure
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.
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News tagged with heart failure
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 ...
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.
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 ...
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Researchers find new patterns in H1N1 deaths
Dec 23, 2009 |
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Brazilian researchers have performed the first-ever autopsy study to examine the precise causes of death in victims of the H1N1 swine flu.
Gene for devastating kidney disease discovered
Dec 22, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers from Children's Hospital Boston and Brigham and Women's Hospital have identified an important genetic cause of a devastating kidney disease that is the second leading cause of kidney failure in ...
Heart transplant patients appear to have elevated risk for multiple skin cancers
Dec 21, 2009 |
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Many heart transplant patients develop multiple skin cancers, with increased risk for some skin cancers among patients with other cancers and with increasing age, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of ...
Disparity in use of implantable devices to prevent sudden death in heart failure patients
Dec 18, 2009 |
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A study of heart failure patients who meet national guidelines for devices that stabilize and strengthen the heart's electrical system found that only half of eligible patients received the devices. The study, which is the ...
New gene linked to congenital heart defects
Dec 17, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers from the UC San Diego School of Medicine and colleagues have identified a new gene, ETS-1, that is linked to human congenital heart defects. The landmark study, recently published online in the ...
Breathlessness eased in patients with rare, often fatal disease
Dec 17, 2009 |
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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 ...
TGen analysis identifies biomarkers for diabetic kidney failure
Dec 16, 2009 |
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Researchers using a DNA analysis tool developed by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and UCLA have identified genetic markers that could help treat chronic kidney disease among diabetics.
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 ...
Discovery of new gene called Brd2 that regulates obesity and diabetes
Dec 15, 2009 |
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The chance discovery of a genetic mutation that makes mice enormously fat but protects them from diabetes has given researchers at Boston University School of Medicine, USA, new insights into the cellular mechanisms that ...
Low cholesterol transfer protein activity associated with heart disease risk
Dec 15, 2009 |
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Although seen as a potential heart disease therapy, raising high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels by inhibiting activity of a transfer protein may not be effective, a new study suggests. Scientists at the Jean ...
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