The symptoms such as shortness of breath, fatigue and/or swelling of the legs indicate heart failure and should be diagnosed as early as possible. The important aspects that a doctor needs to know to prescribe a optimal therapy and decrease the progression of heart failure are

a) Whether a patient has heart failure,

b) What type of heart failure the patient has, and

c) What the underlying cause may be.

Does the Patient Have Heart Failure?

This may be easy to answer. By analyzing the medical history and performing a careful physical examination, a doctor can easily get idea of whether heart failure is present. Further, a definitive diagnosis can be made by performing an echocardiogram, which creates an “image” of the beating heart and it is a non-invasive method.

Heart failure is the primary cause of death among the people over age of 65. More than 20% of older adults hospitalize due to heart failure. Nevertheless, recent advancements in treatment of hypertension, heart surgeries, and heart pacemakers are improving survival rates. The complications of heart failure are given below.

Cardiac Cachexia. This condition is of unintentional rapid weight loss (a loss of at least 7.5% of normal weight within 6 months) in patients with heart failure. It ismore severe in patients who are obese. Cardiac cachexia is an important indicator of a worsening condition of heart failure.

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Event on 2011-06-09 00:00:00
This conference brings together the most exciting advances in heart failure and related cardiometabolic medicine, from treatment to prevention, and innovation to application.

at Four Seasons Hotel Toronto;Westin Harbour Castle;Fairmont Royal York;InterContinental Toronto Centre;Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel;Hilton Toronto;JPdL Toronto Inc.;Metro Toronto Convention Centre

Toronto, Canada

The symptoms of heart failure generally fall into three categories despite whether heart failure is caused by dilated cardiomyopathy (cardiomyopathy is heart muscle disease), hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or diastolic dysfunction.
They are
1) Symptoms due to pulmonary congestion:
Pulmonary (or lung) congestion is a situation when the heart is fails to fill with blood, the pressures increases inside the heart and the blood builds up or “backs up” into the lungs. The symptoms of pulmonary congestion include shortness of breath, most often during exertion or while lying down. With progress of heart failure, these symptoms gradually get intensified leading to physical incapacity. “Acute pulmonary edema,” or sudden, severe episodes of shortness of breath may also occur which demand immediate medical emergencies. Much worse, changes in blood hormones occur in many patients with heart failure. These changes cause salt and water retention in the kidneys. Consequently, swelling (or edema) occurs in the legs, and in more pulmonary congestion. Pulmonary congestion symptoms are common in all three types of heart failure.
2) Symptoms due to poor cardiac pumping action:
In relatively later course of dilated cardiomyopathy, the heart muscle has become extremely weak and the symptoms caused by decreased cardiac output or poor cardiac pumping are seen. These symptoms are uncommon in Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and diastolic heart failure as those conditions have well-preserved cardiac pumping action. The weakened heart muscle can no longer pump enough blood adequately supply the demand of body’s organs. Extreme fatigue and muscle wasting are most prominent symptoms due to poor pumping. Sometimes, the poor blood flow to organs like the brain, liver, kidneys, and intestines can reduce their function, leading to a myriad of other symptoms including lethargy, abdominal distention, extreme edema (swelling) and numerous gastrointestinal symptoms.
3) Symptoms due to cardiac arrhythmias:
All the three types of heart failure are linked with heart rhythm disturbances. The atrial fibrillation is most common. The chances of atrial fibrillation are more with the gradual worsening of the heart. Ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation is due to very rapid and disorganized heart rhythms originating in the ventricles. This leads to sudden deaths in patients with heart failure, specifically in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy, and some forms of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Ventricular arrhythmia is common and almost one out of three patients with dilated cardiomyopathy experiences suddenly death. Therefore, due to this reason, patients with significant dilated cardiomyopathy should be considered for implantable defibrillators.