Your ticker
may not be strong enough to pump out as much blood as required by your body
when you have heart failure. The ticker enlarges as it tries to move more
blood, it also pumps very fast and there is narrowing of blood vessels to get
more blood out to your body. With the heart working harder, it becomes weaker
with increase in damage. The body receives less oxygen, and an individual might
experience symptoms like shortness of breath, swelling in the legs and fluid
buildup. The body in trying to keep the blood it has- to supply to your ticker
and brain, leaves less for organs like your kidneys and liver which can eventually
get damaged due to lack of enough blood. Although you cannot cure heart failure
(HF), you can manage it efficiently by following your treatment plan with medicines,
diet, exercise, and surgery being just some of the treatments your doctor might
suggest to prevent the problems mentioned below:
Abnormal
Heart Rhythm- Atrial
Fibrillation (A-fib) is a type of abnormal heart rhythm that HF can cause that
causes your ticker to quiver and skip instead of beating. An irregular
heartbeat can cause pooling of blood which might lead to clots. A clot can
break and travel to the lungs which is called pulmonary embolism. A clot can
also travel to the brain which can cause a stroke if it blocks a blood vessel
there.
If your
heart is weak, the upper and lower chambers might not squeeze at the right time
in moving blood through your body. Your ticker might beat too slowly, too
quickly, or in an irregular rhythm. The heart- when the rhythm is off- can’t
pump enough blood out to your body.
Problems
with Heart Valve- The
four valves of the ticker open and close to keep blood flowing in and out of
your heart. With the damage getting worse, your ticker has to work harder to
pump out blood, it also enlarges which can damage the valves.
Lung
Problems- A damaged
ticker cannot pump blood as effectively from your lungs out to the body that
causes backing up of blood thus raising pressure in the veins inside your
lungs, that pushes fluid into your air sacs. With build up of liquid, it
becomes difficult to breathe- this is called pulmonary edema.
Liver
Damage- HF can steal
the required blood that the liver needs to work and also causes fluid buildup
that puts extra pressure
on the portal vein, which brings blood to your liver, which can scar the organ
to the point where it doesn't work as well as it should.
Other
complications are kidney damage or failure, anemia, extreme weight and muscle
loss.
Preventing
Complications:
If left
untreated, heart failure will get worse over time which can be
life-threatening. Follow the advice of your healthcare provider and adhere to
your treatment plan as the better you take care of your ticker, the less likely
you are to have other problems.
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