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CHAPTER 2. WHAT IS CHF?

The heart’s job is to pump blood and oxygen to all parts of the body, because your organs and tissues need that blood and oxygen to work.

When the heart doesn’t work well, blood backs up– kind of like a traffic jam. When the blood backs up, this is called congestion, and that’s why the condition is called Congestive Heart Failure. While there are different kinds of CHF, all involve blood fluid backing up like a traffic jam, or congestion.

Congestive Heart Failure does NOT mean that your heart is going to stop completely anytime soon. It DOES mean that your heart is not working as well as it should be.

The most common symptoms of CHF are:

• Weight gain, specifically two pounds in one day or three pounds in five days
• Shortness of breath
• Chest pains
• Coughing that won’t go away
• Swelling (sometimes called Edema) of the feet, ankles, or legs
• Feeling unusually tired and weak
• Nausea or loss of appetite
• Confusion or decreased alertness
• Palpitations or rapid or irregular heart beat
• Waking from sleep to catch your breath
• And, using several pillows to help you sleep

Call 911 right away if you:

• Have severe breathing difficulty
• Cough up a pink, frothy mucus
• Have severe chest discomfort
• Have sudden weakness in arms or legs
• Or, are light headed to the point of fainting

CHF can develop for a variety of reasons. You may not even have been diagnosed with these conditions before. They are:

• Coronary artery disease, where the arteries that supply blood to the heart are narrow
• Heart valve abnormalities
• Diabetes
• High blood pressure, which is also called hypertension, and can make it harder for the heart to pump
• Lung disease
• Or, alcohol abuse, which can cause damage to the heart