Advocate Health Care's Heart Failure Management Program has received the "Gold Seal of Approval" from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.

What is HF?
Heart failure is the failure of your heart muscle to pump enough blood to meet your body’s needs. About 4.8 million people in the United States have heart failure. It is the major cause of admission to the hospital for those over 65 years old. There are many reasons why the heart muscle becomes weak.

When the heart muscle pump cannot handle the amount of blood it gets, the blood slows down and backs up. This puts pressure on the blood vessels in the lungs, legs and abdomen and causes leaking from these blood vessels. Fluid collects in the tissues, which can cause you to have leg swelling, shortness of breath, lack of appetite or abdominal pain. This backup of blood is called heart failure. The heart chambers get bigger over time to decrease the backup. Although this helps in the early stages, it makes the heart pump worse in the long run. Cardiomegaly is the name for when the heart chamber gets bigger.

There are many reasons why the blood backs up. The heart may become stressed and cannot pump as well. The amount of blood (fluid) that the heart has to pump may increase. Heart failure decreases the kidney’s ability to remove salt (sodium) and water from your body. Because your kidneys get less blood, they think that the body needs more blood volume. To make up for this, your body puts out a hormone that makes you hold salt and water. This hormone increases as the heart’s pumping ability becomes worse. That is why fluid retention becomes worse as the heart becomes weaker.

The heart has two main pumping chambers called the ventricles. Heart muscle weakness can occur in one or both of these. Your symptoms depend on which muscle is weak. Look at the sections below to see where most of your symptoms are.

Left sided heart failure
Decreased blood flow causes your kidneys to keep salt and water in your body that may cause a sudden weight gain.

Blood backup causes increased pressure in the left atrium and the lungs.

You may notice:

	shortness of breath
	a dry hacking cough
	inability to sleep unless propped up
	waking up breathless at night

Right sided heart failure
Blood backup causes increased pressure in the right atrium and in the veins that bring blood from the body to the heart.

You may notice:

	swelling in your ankles and legs
	abdominal soreness
	fatigue
	lack of appetite
	abdominal bloating
	constipation or diarrhea

Heart failure can be mild to severe. It is easier to treat when it is found early. Symptoms become worse over time if the disease is untreated. Symptoms can come and go or sometimes go away completely. You can control symptoms when you understand the problem and follow the plan of diet, medicine and activity. Information in the remaining parts of this site can help you control symptoms.

Good luck in your learning, and don’t forget to ask questions!

This Patient Guide was partially funded by an unrestricted grant from Sanofi Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

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