izni, and the number of patients is steadily increasing. In Russia, the incidence of chronic heart failure is lower, but most likely the result of ineffective diagnosis.
incidence of chronic heart failure increases with age - from 1% among people aged 50-59 to 10% over the age of 80 years. However, at any age, this disease requires treatment. Timely and proper treatment of chronic heart failure not only prolongs life but also gives the person an active longevity.
Causes of heart failure
Heart failure - a pathological condition in which the cardiovascular system does not provide the body with the necessary amount of blood and therefore oxygen. Initially, this occurs only at a high load on the body, and eventually at rest. Depending on the rate of heart failure produce acute and chronic forms. Acute failure occurs within minutes or hours, and chronic - the result of a process lasts from several weeks to several years.
Causes of chronic heart failure are diverse:
• myocardial damage as a result of coronary heart disease, myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle), rheumatic fever, cardiomyopathy (noninflammatory lesion of the heart muscle), chronic poisoning (most commonly alcohol and nicotine);
• Overload infarction due to hypertension, heart disease, a significant increase in blood volume (eg, kidney disease);
• compression of the myocardium in tumors, pericardial effusion (inflammation of the "heart shirts" surrounding the heart muscle);
• extracardiac disease that significantly increases the load on the myocardium (increased thyroid function, obesity, liver cirrhosis, severe anemia).
Clinical manifestations
At the beginning of the disease the symptoms often are nonspecific and long written off the person for fatigue, exhaustion, or age.
most characteristic manifestations of heart failure following:
- fatigue during normal physical activity, which was previously transferred easily;
- shortness of breath that occurs after high physical exertion and persistent inadequate for a long time (in the severe stages of apnea occurs when the minimum load and even at rest, there is a shortage of air);
- heartbeat, and long-lasting after exercise;
- dizziness;
- dry and chill the palms and soles;
- appearance acrocyanosis - cyanosis toe and hands, ears and nose (the result of poor blood supply to the most remote parts of the body from the heart);
- dry or wet cough, hemoptysis possible;
- heaviness and pain in the right upper quadrant (due to the increase of the liver);
- the appearance of edema, initiallymoreoften on the ankles;
- swelling of the neck veins.
If you find at least some of the above symptoms should seek medical attention.
Diagnostics
In the rest of the surveyed determine the number of respiratory movements and heart rate (pulse on the forearm) for 1 min. After that surveyed are asked to do 5 sit-ups and repeated measurements. Normally, these figures after the load is increased by 50% and returned to its previous value, not later than 10 minutes. Repeated measurements of heart rate and the number of breaths to hold until they return to the indicators that are registered to the load. If this time surveyedmorethan 10 minutes, you should assume the pathology of the cardiovascular system.
For accurate diagnosis of heart failure using different methods: veloergometry and research on the treadmill (the definition of the basic parameters of the cardiovascular system at increasing physical activity, which is defined by bicycle or treadmill), radiography, electro-and echocardiography.
Treatment
complete recovery in chronic heart failure is extremely difficult to achieve. In most cases this is an irreversible condition, because the long term disease compensatory mechanisms are exhausted and practically all organs, the blood supply which has suffered long enough, develop severe changes. However, as a asle, the patient's condition can improve.