The
Causes of Heart Failure
Typically these conditions
listed below cause the "wear and tear" that
leads to heart failure. A combination of any of
these conditions greatly increases the risk. If
someone experiences heart failure, chances are
they have (or had) one or more of the following.
Some of these can be present without the person
even knowing it.
Aging
The heart loses some of its
blood-pumping ability as a natural consequence
of aging.
Abnormal heart valves
Heart valve problems can result
from disease, infection or a defect present at
birth. When the valves don't open or close
completely during each heartbeat, the heart
muscle has to pump harder to keep the blood
moving. If the workload becomes too great, heart
failure results.
Coronary artery disease
Cholesterol and fatty deposits
build up in the heart's arteries causing less
blood reaches the heart muscle. This damages the
muscle, and the healthy heart tissue that
remains has to work harder.
Diabetes
Diabetes puts extra strain on
the heart, increasing risk for heart failure.
People with diabetes also tend to be overweight
and have high blood pressure and high
cholesterol - all of which make the heart work
harder.
Lung disease
When the lungs don't work well
as they should, the heart has to work harder to
move the available oxygen to the rest of the
body.
Heart attacks
A heart attack occurs when an
artery that supplies blood to the heart gets
blocked. The loss of oxygen and nutrients causes
damage to that part of the heart's muscle
tissue. The remaining healthy tissue has to pump
even harder to supply blood to the body.
High blood pressure
Uncontrolled blood pressure
doubles a person's risk of developing heart
failure. When pressure within the blood vessels
is too high, the heart has to pump harder than
normal to keep the blood circulating. This takes
a toll on the heart, and over time the chambers
get larger and weaker.
Heart defects present at birth
If the heart and its chambers
don't form correctly, the healthy parts have to
work harder to make up for the difference.
Heart muscle disease
Any damage to the heart muscle,
whether because of drug or alcohol use, viral
infections or unknown reasons, increases the
risk of heart failure.
Genetic abnormalities
Genetic abnormalities contribute
to the risk for certain types of heart disease,
which in turn may lead to heart failure.
However, in most instances, a specific genetic
link to heart failure has not been identified.
