Congestive heart failure can affect all ages, from children to the elderly. Almost five million Americans currently live with CHF and there are 550,000 new cases each year. Almost 1.4 million patients with CHF are under the age of 60. And According to the Heart Failure Society of America "African-Americans are 1.5 times more likely to develop heart failure than Caucasians." CHF can affect both sides of the heart muscle. In left-sided or left ventricular heart failure, the left ventricle becomes damaged. The left ventricle is the chamber in the heart that pumps blood to the rest of the body. This will cause fluid to fill into lungs increasing the blood pressure in lungs and making breathing difficult. Common causes of left-sided heart failure are drinking too much alcohol, heart muscle infection, hypothyroidism and leaking or narrow heart valves. In right-sided or right ventricular heart failure, the right side of the heart is unable to relax enough to effectively pump blood from the body back into the heart. When this happens blood backs up in the body's veins. This causes swelling also known as, edema. There is also an increase in pressure in the veins that carry blood from the body to the heart. Both versions of heart failure are serious and need to be treated immediately. To check the presence of HF, the doctor will look at medical history and the presence of risk factors like hypertension, diabetes, and cardiomyopathy. Then during a physical examination a doctor will listen for signs of congestion in the lungs. The doctor will also listen for abnormal heart sounds like arrhythmias. After a physical exam, the doctor may run more tests. These tests include blood tests to check for other diseases that will affect the heart. Blood tests also check the function of the liver, kidney and thyroid. Another test used in the diagnosis of HF is a chest X-Ray. A chest X-ray looks for signs of enlarged lungs and heart resulting from fluid buildup. Electrocardiograms and stress tests are also used. ECG tests the electrical activity in the heart and stress test will measure how the heart responds to physical exertion. After a complete medical evaluation and the diagnosis of heart failure, the symptoms are classified into one of the four American Heart Association Stages of Heart Failure. …show more content…
These four stages of heart failure help guide a treatment plan. The four stages of HF are A, B, C and D. In stage A of heart failure there are risk factors but no symptoms. this means a family history of hypertension, diabetes and heart problems or diets high in fat, abuse of alcohol or drugs and smoking could potentially lead to HF. In stage B of HF, heart disease is present, however, there are no symptoms, just changes to the heart. In stage C, heart failure is present and there are symptoms. The symptoms of stage C heart failure are fatigue and shortness of breath. During stage D, there are obvious signs of advanced heart disease. Stage D HF requires serious medical therapy Along with the stages of HF, there is also a classification system. This system is known as the New York Heart Association (NYHA) Functional Classification. The classification system is four categories based upon the physical activity a CHF patient is able or unable to do. In class I HF patient don't …show more content…
Some BB help improves survival rates in patients because they improve the beta receptor pathway function. According to Boyle (2014), "A beta blocker should be initiated before hospital discharge or on an outpatient basis at a low dose and titrated slowly to target levels or maximally tolerated doses". Most beta blockers are usually given to patients that are on ACE inhibitors. Drugs taken in combination with ACE inhibitors and beta blockers are Diuretics. diuretics are good for patients with symptomatic congestion. However, diuretics have adverse reactions such as hypokalemia and an elevation of neurohormone