Heart failure is most likely to develop after the heart has been extensively damaged or weakened by some other conditions. Over time, our heart fails to cope up with the usual demands of the body, thus creating a gap. The ventricles tend to become stiff and do not fill up properly between each beat. Additionally, the heart muscles weaken and the ventricles dilate or stretches to such a point that our heart fails to pump sufficient amount of blood throughout our body.

 

Congestive heart failure can be caused due to various underlying factors which can weaken the heart or cause potential damage. Some of these causes can even be present without our knowledge:

 

  • High blood pressure or hypertension: Blood pressure is basically the force exerted for pumping blood by the heart through the arteries. If the blood pressure levels are high, the heart works even harder than it normally does for the proper circulation of blood throughout the body. Gradually, the muscles of the heart become thicker as they have to compensate for the added work pressure, thus enlarging our heart. Eventually this would lead to the stiffening of the heart, thus making it too weak to even pump blood effectively throughout the body.

 

  • Coronary artery disease: Coronary artery disease is one of the common forms of heavy diseases and the most prevalent cause of congestive heart failure as well. Over time, the arteries that supply the heart muscles with the required amount of blood tend to become narrow due to the development of fatty deposits. This process is known as atherosclerosis. Blood flows very slowly through these narrowed arteries, thus making some areas of the heart muscles weaker and then depriving the same of oxygen-rich blood.  In most of the cases, the blood flow is just about enough for the survival of the muscles.

 

  • Heart attack: Heart attack is caused due to the formation of plaque in the arteries by these fatty deposits that rupture the arteries. This leads to a blood clot that blocks the flow of blood, thus causing an attack.

 

  • Faulty Valves: There are 4 valves in the heart that keeps blood flowing in proper directions. Any damage caused to any of these valves would force the heart to work even harder to allow the proper flow of blood. Overtime, this added burden weakens the heart, thus leading to failure.

 

  • Cardiomyopathy: Any damage caused to the heart muscles, known as cardiomyopathy, can lead to congestive heart failure. This damage is caused due to various factors like infections, toxic effects of certain drugs and/or alcohol abuse. Additionally, some other diseases like lupus or problems with thyroid can also cause damage to the heart muscles.

 

  • Myocarditis: This condition is characterized by the inflammation of our heart muscle. It is commonly caused by some virus that can even cause left-sided heart failure.

 

  • Congenital heart defects: Some people have heart defects, such as deformed valves and other such conditions by birth and are known as congenital heart defects. These factors can also be responsible for heart congestive failure.

 

 

Apart from all these factors, chronic diseases like diabetes, hyperthyroidism, anemia, hypothyroidism, lupus, emphysema, amyloidosis and hemochromatosis can also be some of the contributing factors of congestive heart diseases.

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Filed under: Congestive Heart Failure Treatments

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