Congestive Heart Failure

Introduction: Congestive Heart Failure

Congestive Heart Failure: Congestive heart failure is a major chronic disease for older adults, accounting for about 260,000 deaths a year. The majority of the nearly 5 million U.S. ... more about Congestive Heart Failure.

Congestive Heart Failure: Inadequate pumping and decline of heart function common in the elderly. More detailed information about the symptoms, causes, and treatments of Congestive Heart Failure is available below.

Symptoms of Congestive Heart Failure

• Breathless with exertion
• Breathlessness
• Fluid in the lungs
• Pulmonary edema
• Breathing difficulties

See full list of 17 symptoms of Congestive Heart Failure

Home Diagnostic Testing

Home medical testing related to Congestive Heart Failure:

• High Blood Pressure: Home Testing
  • Home Blood Pressure Tests
  • Home Blood Pressure Monitors
  • Home Heart Tests
• Heart Health: Home Testing:
  • Heart Rate Monitors
  • Irregular Heartbeat Detection
  • Heart Electrocardiogram (ECG)
  • Home Cholesterol Tests

Medical Textbooks Online about Congestive Heart Failure

Book excerpts: Copyright © 2008 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.

Wrongly Diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure?

• Misdiagnosis of Congestive Heart Failure
• Failure to diagnose Congestive Heart Failure
• Underlying causes of Congestive Heart Failure (possibly wrongly diagnosed)
• Failure to diagnose Congestive Heart Failure

Misdiagnosis and Congestive Heart Failure

Heart attacks can be undiagnosed: Although the most severe symptoms of heart attack are hard to miss, there are varying degrees of severity. It is altogether too common for people to...read more »

Heart attacks can be overdiagnosed: Although many people die from heart attacks, there are also many cases where people fear that they have a heart attack, but actually have something milder. Some of...read more »

Rare heart condition often undiagnosed: The rare heart condition called long QT syndrome can lead to episodes of palpitations and rapid heartbeat....read more »

Heart attack can be over-diagnosed: Although heart attack is often undiagnosed, leading to fatality, it can also be over-diagnosed. People become concerned that a condition is a heart attack, whereas there are various less...read more »

Blood pressure cuffs misdiagnose hypertension in children: One known misdiagnosis issue with hyperension, arises in relation to the simple...read more »

Hypertension misdiagnosis common in children: Hypertension is often misdiagnosed in adults (see misdiagnosis of hypertension), but its misdiagnosis is even more...read more »

Read more about Misdiagnosis and Congestive Heart Failure

Causes of Congestive Heart Failure

• Aging
• See also causes of heart failure

Read more about causes of Congestive Heart Failure

More information about causes of Congestive Heart Failure:

• Medications, drugs, or substances causing Congestive Heart Failure (15 listings)
• Drug interactions causing Congestive Heart Failure (221 listings)
• Underlying causes of Congestive Heart Failure
• Congestive Heart Failure as a complication caused by other conditions
• Congestive Heart Failure as a symptom
• Medical news summaries relating to Causes of Congestive Heart Failure

Treatments for Congestive Heart Failure

• ACE inhibitors
• Heart transplantation
• Left ventricular assist device (LVAD)
• Life style changes
  • Quit smoking

See full list of 15 treatments for Congestive Heart Failure

Videos for Congestive Heart Failure

Patient Surveys for Congestive Heart Failure

• Patient Profile Survey
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• Survey about the symptoms of your Congestive Heart Failure
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Prognosis for Congestive Heart Failure

Prognosis for Congestive Heart Failure: Poor. 5-year survival around 50%. About 20% survive longer than 8-12 years.

More about prognosis of Congestive Heart Failure

Reseach about Congestive Heart Failure

Visit our research pages for current research about Congestive Heart Failure treatments.

Clinical Trials for Congestive Heart Failure

The US based website ClinicalTrials.gov lists information on both federally and privately supported clinical trials using human volunteers.

Some of the clinical trials listed on ClinicalTrials.gov for Congestive Heart Failure include:

• Registry for Acute Decompensated Heart Failure Patients Admitted to ER - This study is not yet open for patient recruitment (Current: 23 Nov 2006)
• Longitudinal Registry for Advanced Heart Failure Patients - This study is not yet open for patient recruitment (Current: 23 Nov 2006)
• Registry for Acute Decompensated Heart Failure Patients - This study is not yet open for patient recruitment (Current: 23 Nov 2006)
• Evaluation of the Effects of Carperitide in Patients With Congestive Heart Failure - This study is no longer recruiting patients (Current: 23 Nov 2006) - Carperitide (human recombinant atrial natriuretic peptide)
• A Study to Develop Additional Safety and Clinical Experience With NATRECOR hBNP (Nesiritide) in the Treatment of Patients With Worsening Congestive Heart Failure Who Require Inpatient Intravenous Therapy With Medications That Influence the Tone and Caliber of Blood Vessels. - This study is no longer recruiting patients (Current: 23 Nov 2006) - nesiritide

See full list of 254 Clinical Trials for Congestive Heart Failure

Prevention of Congestive Heart Failure

Prevention information for Congestive Heart Failure has been compiled from various data sources and may be inaccurate or incomplete. None of these methods guarantee prevention of Congestive Heart Failure.

• Vitamin B6 - possibly used for prevention of Vitamin B6 deficiency

Read more about prevention of Congestive Heart Failure

Statistics for Congestive Heart Failure

• Medical statistics for Congestive Heart Failure
• Prevalence and incidence statistics for Congestive Heart Failure
• Death and Mortality statistics for Congestive Heart Failure
• Society statistics for Congestive Heart Failure

Stories from Users Related to Congestive Heart Failure

• Chf?
• Congestion for over 6 months
• Always thirsty, always congested
• Sinus congestion for over 6 months
• Doctored With Heart Failure Recovered After Stem Cell Therapy
• Failure to diagnose enlarged heart
• Heart Failure with poor EF
• cronic congestion
• Prognosis for CHF
• persistent congestion after spermatocele

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User Interactive Forums

Read about other experiences, ask a question about Congestive Heart Failure, or answer someone else's question, on our message boards:

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Article Excerpts about Congestive Heart Failure

Facts About Heart Failure in Older Adults: CDC-OC (Excerpt)

Congestive heart failure is a major chronic disease for older adults, accounting for about 260,000 deaths a year. The majority of the nearly 5 million U.S. patients with heart failure are older than 65 years. In 1995, $3.4 billion was paid by Medicare for heart failure. As the "baby boomers" age during the next 40 years, the number of heart failure patients older than 65 is expected to double. (Source: excerpt from Facts About Heart Failure in Older Adults: CDC-OC)

HEART AND CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE: NWHIC (Excerpt)

Congestive heart failure is a term often used to describe heart failure. But congestion, or the buildup of fluid, is only one symptom of heart failure and does not occur in all people who have heart failure. (Source: excerpt from HEART AND CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE: NWHIC)

Definitions of Congestive Heart Failure:

Inability to pump enough blood to avoid congestion in the tissues - (Source - WordNet 2.1)