Generally, heart failure starts on the left side – specifically, the left ventricle, your heart's main pumping chamber. Heart failure often occurs after another condition has weakend the heart. Any of the below conditions can weaken the heart and cause heart failure: Coronary artery disease and heart attack.
Heart failure usually begins with the lower left heart chamber, called the left ventricle. This is the heart's main pumping chamber. But heart failure also can affect the right side. The lower right heart chamber is called the right ventricle.
The left side of the heart is crucial for normal heart function and is usually where heart failure begins.
The right side of the heart usually becomes weaker in response to failure on the left side. The right side of the heart brings in the circulated blood from the body and sends it to the lungs for oxygen. When the left side of the heart weakens, the right side of the heart has to work harder to compensate.
The left ventricle is larger and stronger than the right because it has to pump blood through your whole body. When people have left-sided heart failure, their heart's left side has to work harder to pump the same amount of blood.
Left-sided heart failure is the most common type. Right-sided heart failure: Here the right ventricle of the heart is too weak to pump enough blood to the lungs.
Left-sided heart failure occurs when the heart loses its ability to pump blood. This prevents organs from receiving enough oxygen. The condition can lead to complications that include right-sided heart failure and organ damage.
The right side of the heart receives blood that is low in oxygen because most has been used up by the brain and body. It pumps this to your lungs, where it picks up a fresh supply of oxygen. The blood then returns to the left side of the heart, ready to be pumped back out to the brain and the rest of your body.
Cor pulmonale is a condition that causes the right side of the heart to fail. Long-term high blood pressure in the arteries of the lung and right ventricle of the heart can lead to cor pulmonale.
What Are the Causes? Sometimes it just happens. But usually it's left-side heart failure that causes right-side heart failure. As the left chamber of your heart loses some of its ability to pump, blood continues to back up -- sometimes into your lungs.
The left ventricle is the strongest because it has to pump blood out to the entire body. When your heart functions normally, all four chambers work together in a continuous and coordinated effort to keep oxygen-rich blood circulating throughout your body.
Cardiogenic pulmonary edema is caused by increased pressures in the heart. It's usually a result of heart failure. When a diseased or overworked left lower heart chamber (left ventricle) can't pump out enough of the blood it gets from the lungs, pressures in the heart go up.
Chronic diseases: Lung conditions like COPD or pulmonary fibrosis, diabetes, HIV, chronic heart disease, hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism, or a buildup of iron or protein can lead to right-sided heart failure.
Left-sided CHF is the most common form of CHF and begins when the left ventricle cannot effectively pump blood throughout the body. Eventually, this can lead to fluid retention, particularly around the lungs.
The left ventricle is an integral part of the cardiovascular system. Left ventricular contraction forces oxygenated blood through the aortic valve to be distributed to the entire body. With such an important role, decreased function caused by injury or maladaptive change can induce symptoms of the disease.
If you have right-sided heart failure, your doctor may prescribe two types of medicines. Medicines that remove extra sodium and fluid from your body, including diuretics and aldosterone antagonists (such as spironolactone) lower the amount of blood that the heart must pump.
Right-sided heart failure means that the right side of the heart is not pumping blood to the lungs as well as normal. Most people develop heart failure because of a problem with the left ventricle. But reduced function of the right ventricle can also occur in heart failure.
When the left side of the heart is failing, it can't handle the blood it's getting from the lungs. Pressure then builds up in the veins of the lungs, causing fluid to leak into the lung tissues. This may be referred to as congestive heart failure. This causes you to feel short of breath, weak, or dizzy.
When the body can no longer compensate adequately for the failing heart, blood circulation to the brain will start to drop. Without enough blood, the brain does not function well, resulting in light-headedness and/or mental confusion. Light-headedness is a sensation of dizziness or mild disorientation.
Treatment for left sided heart failure includes lifestyle changes and medications. There is no cure, but the condition can be managed.
How long can you live with congestive heart failure? In general, more than half of all people diagnosed with congestive heart failure will survive for 5 years. About 35% will survive for 10 years.
In general, about half of all people diagnosed with congestive heart failure will survive 5 years. About 30% will survive for 10 years. In patients who receive a heart transplant, about 21% of patients are alive 20 years later.