What is heart failure?

Heart failure occurs when the heart loses some of its ability to pump blood through the body. Systolic heart failure results when the heart's ability to contract decreases — blood returning to the heart from the lungs can back up, causing fluid to leak into the lungs (pulmonary congestion). Diastolic heart failure occurs when the heart cannot properly fill with blood because the muscle has lost its ability to relax.

The Emory Centers for Heart Failure Therapy offer a unique progam in Georgia dedicated to the treatment of patients with severe heart failure.

Signs and symptoms of heart failure:

• Shortness of breath
• Fatigue
• Difficulty sleeping due to breathing problems
• A swollen and/or tender abdomen
• Loss of appetite
• Increased urination at night
• Swelling of the feet and legs

Causes and risk factors:

• Coronary artery disease
• Past myocardial infarction
• Hypertension
• Abnormal heart valves
• Endocarditis
• Cardiomyopathy
• Myocarditis
• Drug and/or alcohol use
• Congenital heart disease
• Severe lung disease
• Diabetes
• Severe anemia
• Hyperthyroidism
• Arrhythmia
• Obesity

Treatment and therapies:

• Medications called beta blockers and ACE inhibitors
• Cardiac resynchronization therapy (biventricular pacemakers)
• Lifestyle modifications including reducing salt in the diet, monitoring fluid status, weighing daily and regular exercise

Statistics:

• Nearly 5 million Americans are currently living with congestive heart failure (CHF).
• Approximately 550,000 new cases are diagnosed in the U.S. each year.
• Congestive heart failure affects people of all ages, from children and young adults to the middle-aged and the elderly.
• Almost 1.4 million with CHF are under 60 years of age.
• CHF is present in 2 percent of persons age 40 to 59.
• More than 5 percent of persons age 60 to 69 have CHF.
• CHF annual incidence approaches 10 per 1,000 population after 65 years of age.
• The incidence of CHF is equally frequent in men and women, and African-Americans are 1.5 times more likely to develop heart failure than Caucasians.
• Heart failure is responsible for 11 million physician visits each year and more hospitalizations than all forms of cancer combined.
• CHF is the first listed diagnosis in 875,000 hospitalizations, and the most common diagnosis in hospital patients age 65 years and older.
• In that age group, one fifth of all hospitalizations have a primary or secondary diagnosis of heart failure.
• More than half of those who develop CHF die within 5 years of diagnosis.
• Heart failure contributes to about 287,000 deaths a year. 
• Sudden death is common in patients with CHF, occurring at a rate of six to nine times that of the general population.
• Deaths from heart failure have decreased on average by 12 percent per decade for women and men over the past fifty years.

For more information, contact the Centers for Heart Failure Therapy
Emory Clifton Road 404-778-5544 | Emory Crawford Long Hospital 404-686-7885