What is heart failure?
In a normal healthy heart, during each heartbeat a set amount of blood enters the heart and is pumped out again. If you have heart failure your heart cannot cope with pumping the full amount of blood in each heartbeat. Heart failure is divided into various types. The main types are:
- Left ventricular systolic dysfunction. This means that the left ventricle of the heart does not pump as well as it should do during each heartbeat. In some cases there is only a slight reduction in the power of the ventricle which causes mild symptoms. If the power of the pumping action is more reduced then symptoms become more severe.
- Diastolic dysfunction. This means that the left ventricle does not fill up with blood as much as it should when the heart rests between each heartbeat. This may be due to various factors. For example, the muscle in the wall of the ventricle may not relax fully between each heartbeat, or the wall of the ventricle may be more 'stiff' and less easily stretched than it should be due to various conditions.
- A combination of the above two types.
Heart failure does not mean that your heart is going to stop at any minute. Rather, it means that your heart is not functioning as well as it should to pump blood around the body.
How common is heart failure?
Heart failure becomes more common with increasing age. About 1 in 35 people aged 65-74 years have heart failure. This increases to about 1 in 15 of people aged 75-84 years, and to just over 1 in 7 people aged 85 years and above. It is uncommon in younger people.
By Charlotte Gunn
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