What is ‘heart failure’? And what should we know about it?

The Women’s Weekly recently noted that women often mistake the symptoms of heart failure for getting older, feeling stressed, or being unfit. Which is why we need to know more about it.

We might be comfortable walking on the flat, but climbing stairs or walking uphill feels harder than it used to. Other symptoms include dizziness, tiredness, poor appetite, or swelling in the legs, ankles or feet.

Heart failure means the heart can’t pump enough blood around the body to meet its needs. In women it commonly shows up between the ages of 65 and 75; in men it’s often younger. And the way it occurs is different between men and women.

Mostly, it’s the left side of the heart that’s affected, at least initially (because left-sided heart failure can lead to right-sided heart failure).

You might remember that hearts have four ‘chambers’ or sections, two on the top and two on the bottom. The one on the bottom left, the left ventricle, has the job of pumping blood out through the aorta and around the body. It’s a workhorse.

In men, heart failure occurs if the left side has become weak and can’t pump as strongly as it needs to. This might be the result of heart disease or a heart attack.

In women, the left side can become too stiff or hard to fully relax between beats, so it can’t fill with enough blood to get all the way around the body.

High blood pressure can cause this, but so can any condition that makes the heart work harder, such as diabetes, obesity, chronic kidney disease, or atrial fibrillation (where the heart’s rhythm becomes irregular).

In addition, chronic inflammation of the tiny blood vessels in the heart, which can occur in middle-aged women, can lead to a stiffer heart twenty years later.

Our hearts can also be damaged by viral infections, some cancer drugs, and even low or high iron levels. And heavy alcohol use can stretch, thicken or stiffen the heart.

But the point of talking about this is as a reminder that heart failure or other heart conditions often show up as symptoms that are as generic as fatigue or breathlessness.

It’s understandable that we might assume we’ve just had a lot going on, or we’re getting older, or need to get fitter.

And it’s tempting to just get on with things. Instead, call your GP and make an appointment.

Photo Source: Bigstock