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Life Expectancy of Someone With Congestive Heart Failure
Congestive heart failure is a serious medical condition marked by failure of the heart to pump adequate blood to other parts of the body. It is a potentially fatal condition with a number of causes. Congestive heart failure can be treated in most cases, possibly extending a person's life expectancy.
If you are experiencing serious medical symptoms, seek emergency treatment immediately.
Definition
If you have congestive heart failure, your heart has trouble pumping the right amount of blood to the other organs in your body. While the word failure may sound as if your heart stops beating or working entirely, this is not the case. Your heart keeps working, but not well enough to support your health. According to information from the National Institutes of Health, the condition plays a role in 300,000 fatalities annually.
- If you have congestive heart failure, your heart has trouble pumping the right amount of blood to the other organs in your body.
- Your heart keeps working, but not well enough to support your health.
Causes
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Many things can contribute to congestive heart failure. Coronary artery disease, high blood pressure and diabetes are among the most frequent causes of the condition. Coronary artery disease occurs when the arteries that carry blood to the heart narrow too much. High blood pressure means blood moves though the heart at a higher-than-desired pressure. Diabetes occurs when the body fails to produce insulin--a hormone that is necessary for converting sugar and other food into energy--or to use it as it should. Other causes include diseases that affect the heart valves, diseases of the heart muscle, heart defects and infection of valves or muscles of the heart.
- Many things can contribute to congestive heart failure.
- Coronary artery disease occurs when the arteries that carry blood to the heart narrow too much.
Symptoms
You may not notice symptoms of congestive heart failure right away. A chronic case is one for which symptoms develop gradually and last for a long period of time. In acute cases, symptoms occur suddenly and are often more severe than in chronic cases. Those with more severe cases tend to have much shorter life expectancies.
- You may not notice symptoms of congestive heart failure right away.
- Those with more severe cases tend to have much shorter life expectancies.
Treatment
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According to the Mayo Clinic, treatment for congestive heart failure may include medications and/or surgery 2. Medications may be used to control your heart rhythm, reduce blood pressure or treat underlying conditions that contribute to heart failure. Depending on the severity of your condition, you may need surgery to repair or replace a heart valve or even to treat narrowed arteries. In some cases, implantable devices may be used to control the heart’s pumping, and heart transplant surgery may be required to increase life expectancy in the most serious cases.
- According to the Mayo Clinic, treatment for congestive heart failure may include medications and/or surgery 2.
- Depending on the severity of your condition, you may need surgery to repair or replace a heart valve or even to treat narrowed arteries.
Life Expectancy
It is possible to live with congestive heart failure for years after it develops. According to Merck.com, fewer than than 30 percent of patients live longer than 10 years with the condition, and 50 percent of people with the most serious cases live for two years or longer. Treatment can improve life expectancy, but heart failure isn’t curable.
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References
- MedlinePlus
- Mayo Clinic
- American Heart Association. Warning signs of heart failure. Updated May 31, 2017.
- American Heart Association. Types of heart failure. Updated May 31, 2017.
- Inamdar AA, Inamdar AC. Heart failure: diagnosis, management and utilization. J Clin Med. 2016;5(7). doi:10.3390/jcm5070062
- Yunina D, Sharma D, Fazio R, Amin H, Tsirlin Y, Shetty V. Advanced biventricular heart failure due to left ventricular noncompaction cardiomyopathy leading to the formation of a fastric bezoar: the implications of heart failure on the gastrointestinal tract. Case Rep Cardiol. 2018;2018:4386025. doi:10.1155/2018/4386025
- Yancy CW, Jessup M, Bozkurt B, et al. 2013 ACCF/AHA guideline for the management of heart failure: a report of the American College of Cardiology Foundation/American Heart Association Task Force on practice guidelines. Circulation. 2013;128(16):e240-327. doi:10.1161/CIR.0b013e31829e8776
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- Cleveland Clinic. Heart failure: understanding heart failure. Updated May 1, 2019.
- Joseph SM, Cedars AM, Ewald GA, Geltman EM, Mann DL. Acute decompensated heart failure: contemporary medical management [published correction appears in Tex Heart Inst J. 2010;37(1):135. Dosage error in article text]. Tex Heart Inst J. 2009;36(6):510–520.
- Teerlink JR, Alburikan K, Metra M, Rodgers JE. Acute decompensated heart failure update. Curr Cardiol Rev. 2015;11(1):53–62. doi:10.2174/1573403x09666131117174414
- American Heart Association. Common tests for heart failure. Updated May 31, 2017.
- Cleveland Clinic. NT-proB-type natriuretic peptite (BNP). Updated April 25, 2019.
- Gaggin HK, Januzzi JL. Cardiac biomarkers and heart failure. American College of Cardiology. February 10, 2015.
- Brakohiapa EKK, Botwe BO, Sarkodie BD, Ofori EK, Coleman J. Radiographic determination of cardiomegaly using cardiothoracic ratio and transverse cardiac diameter: can one size fit all? Part one. Pan Afr Med J. 2017;27:201. doi:10.11604/pamj.2017.27.201.12017
- American Heart Association. Classes of heart failure. Updated May 31, 2017.
- Cleveland Clinic. Heart failure: understanding heart failure: management and treatment. Updated May 1, 2019.
- American Heart Association. Lifestyle changes for heart failure. Updated May 31, 2017.
- Maisch B. Alcoholic cardiomyopathy : The result of dosage and individual predisposition. Alkoholische Kardiomyopathie : Eine Folge der Dosis und der individuellen Prädisposition. Herz. 2016;41(6):484–493. doi:10.1007/s00059-016-4469-6
- American Heart Association. Medications used to treat heart failure. Updated May 31, 2017.
- Page RL, O'bryant CL, Cheng D, et al. Drugs that may cause or exacerbate heart failure: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2016;134(6):e32-69. doi:10.1161/CIR.0000000000000426
- American Heart Association. Devices and surgical procedures to treat heart failure. Updated May 31, 2017.
- Cook JA, Shah KB, Quader MA, et al. The total artificial heart. J Thorac Dis. 2015;7(12):2172-80. doi:10.3978/j.issn.2072-1439.2015.10.70
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Heart disease and depression: A two-way relationship. Published April 16, 2017.
Writer Bio
Jordan Meyers has been a writer for 13 years, specializing in businesses, educational and health topics. Meyers holds a Bachelor of Science in biology from the University of Maryland and once survived writing 500 health product descriptions in just 24 hours.