Failure Of Congestive Heart Failure - 1262 Words

Introduction Almost every one in the United States knows a person suffering from congestive heart failure. This disease has manifested its way into the lives of so many—the statistics are astounding. According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, nearly 5 million people are affected and it is the main reason for hospital admission in older adults over the age of 65. This is a great cause for concern. In order to reduce the morbidity and control this epidemic, we must first understand the risks and causes of this condition. It is of the upmost importance to first understand the risks and causes of this condition. Education plays a key role in order to recognize the clinical manifestations and necessary actions to best treat†¦show more content†¦Left sided heart failure causes a decrease in cardiac output and can be further classified as systolic or diastolic. When the cardiac output is decreased and can not get enough oxygen to important organs, it is from an imbalance of stroke volume and heart rate. When a person experiences a myocardial infarction or continuous hypertension, the contractility of the heart decreases which directly influences the stroke volume. The stroke volume is the amount of blood pumped out of the heart per contraction so if that decreases, so does the cardiac output which decreases perfusion of the organs (Huether and McCance, 2012). Diastolic heart failure in the left side is when the ventricle has trouble filling to its full capacity which is usually caused by a stiffening or loss of contractility of the ventricle. Right sided heart failure is often times a response to left sided heart failure. When the left side of the heart has failed, the blood backs up into the lungs due to a decrease in output so the blood then backs up into the right side of the heart causing problems with it too. Heart failure in the right ventricle comes from it not being able to eject an adequate amount of blood into the pulmonary sy stem (Huether and McCance, 2012). Clinical Manifestation Symptoms of a patient with congestive heart failure differ depending on the side of the heart that is not functioning properly. Left sided heart failure