Congestive Heart Failure (cont.)
Daniel Lee Kulick, MD, FACC, FSCAI
Dr. Kulick received his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Southern California, School of Medicine. He performed his residency in internal medicine at the Harbor-University of California Los Angeles Medical Center and a fellowship in the section of cardiology at the Los Angeles County-University of Southern California Medical Center. He is board certified in Internal Medicine and Cardiology.
William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR
Dr. Shiel received a Bachelor of Science degree with honors from the University of Notre Dame. There he was involved in research in radiation biology and received the Huisking Scholarship. After graduating from St. Louis University School of Medicine, he completed his Internal Medicine residency and Rheumatology fellowship at the University of California, Irvine. He is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology.
In this Article
- Congestive heart failure facts
- What is congestive heart failure?
- What causes congestive heart failure?
- What are the symptoms of congestive heart failure (CHF)?
- How is congestive heart failure diagnosed?
- What is the treatment of congestive heart failure?
- Lifestyle modifications
- Medications
- Heart transplant
- Other mechanical therapies
- What is the long term outlook for patients with congestive heart failure?
- What are the areas of new research in congestive heart failure?
- Find a local Cardiologist in your town
What causes congestive heart failure?
Many disease processes can impair the pumping efficiency of the heart to cause congestive heart failure. In the United States, the most common causes of congestive heart failure are:
- coronary artery disease
- high blood pressure
(hypertension)
- longstanding alcohol abuse
- disorders of the heart valves
- unknown (idiopathic) causes, such as after recovery from myocarditis
Less common causes include viral infections of the stiffening of the heart muscle, thyroid disorders, disorders of the heart rhythm, and many others.
It should also be noted that in patients with underlying heart disease, taking certain medications can lead to the development or worsening of congestive heart failure. This is especially true for those drugs that can cause sodium retention or affect the power of the heart muscle. Examples of such medications are the commonly used nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which include ibuprofen (Motrin and others) and naproxen (Aleve and others) as well as certain steroids, some medication for diabetes (such as rosiglitazone [Avandia] or pioglitazone [Actos]), and some calcium channel blockers.
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