About Heart Failure

Congestive heart failure, also called cardiomyopathy or CHF, is a chronic condition when a person’s heart can't pump enough blood to meet their needs.

Over time, conditions such as narrowed arteries in your heart (coronary artery disease) or high blood pressure gradually leave your heart too weak or stiff to fill and pump efficiently.

Symptoms:
You may have many symptoms of heart failure or only a few:

• shortness of breath, wheezing, or coughing when you
  exert yourself
• feeling weak or tired after little effort
• problems breathing when you’re lying flat, or needing to sleep in a recliner or propped up on pillows
• waking up at night coughing or short of breath
• rapid weight gain
• swelling in the hands, abdomen, ankles, or feet

Causes:
Typically congestive heart failure develops over time from different factors including:

• coronary artery disease
• high blood pressure
• diabetes
• long-term alcohol abuse
• problems with heart valves
• chronic thyroid disorders
• irregular heartbeats
• congenital heart defects