Everyone Healthy Library
Congestive Heart Failure
Condition / disease reference page from the Everyone Healthy database.
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Get urgent medical care now if there is any severe, sudden, rapidly worsening or worrying symptom, especially:
- chest pain, pressure or pain spreading to the arm, jaw or back
- trouble breathing, blue lips, severe wheeze or choking
- stroke-like symptoms such as face drooping, arm weakness or speech trouble
- collapse, fainting, seizure, confusion or extreme drowsiness
- severe bleeding, black stools, vomiting blood or major injury
- severe allergic reaction, swelling of the face/throat or widespread rash with breathing trouble
- severe abdominal pain, severe headache, stiff neck or sudden vision change
- signs of severe dehydration, sepsis, high fever with worsening illness, or symptoms in a baby/young child that concern you
Connected health information
Explore this condition in a clear order
Condition overview
Attributes
Commonalityis uncommon
Linked signs and symptoms
16Each sign/symptom opens its own page and links back to related conditions.
- Ankle Swelling (Ankle Oedema)
- Breath Shortness (Dyspnoea)
- Cough
- Cough Productive
- Fainting (Syncope)
- Fatigue
- Fluid Collection in Abdominal Cavity (Ascites)
- loss of appetite
- Nausea
- Oedema Peripheral
- Poor Exercise Tolerance
- Scrotal Swelling
- Swelling (Oedema, Edema)
- Urine Output Decreased (Oliguria)
- Vomiting
- Weight Gain (Body Mass Index Raised)
Linked drugs / medications
5Medication information is educational only. A doctor or pharmacist should advise whether any medicine is appropriate.
Treatments, therapies and supportive options
2Grouped by treatment type. These are educational database links, not personal treatment recommendations. Evidence labels are shown only where stored in the EH database.
Alternative medicine
1Linked diagnostic tests and investigations
29These are pulled from both EH diagnostic-test link tables, including the older large test-link table.
- 2,3 Diphosphoglycerate (2,3-DPG) Concentration
- Aldosterone Concentration Test
- Blood Urea Nitrogen Tests
- Blood Uric Acid Concentration Test
- Chloride Concentration (Blood)
- Creatine Kinase Concentration
- Creatinine Clearance (CrCl)
- Creatinine Concentration (Blood, Serum Creatinine)
- D-Dimer Blood Test
- erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR)
- Fibrinogen Concentration test
- Gamma-Glutamyltransferase (GGT) Concentration
- Homocysteine Concentration (HCY, Blood)
- Intracranial Prassure Monitoring (CSF Pressure)
- Lactate Dehydrogenase Concentration
- Lactic Acid Concentration
- Lymphocytes Count
- Osmolality, Blood (Serum Osmolality)
- Partial Pressure of Arterial Carbon Dioxide (PCO2, PaCO2)
- Platelet Count
- Prothrombin Time (PT)
- Sodium Concentration (Na, Blood)
- Urine Chloride Concentration
- Urine Hyaline Cast Concentration
- Urine Osmolality
- Urine Sodium Quantitative (24hr)
- Urine Specific Gravity (SG)
- Urine Volume
- Vitamin B12 (VB12) Concentration
Biological markers/agents
28This visual map shows biological markers/agents reported as increased or decreased with this condition. These are educational relationships only; test results must be interpreted by a qualified clinician because ranges vary by lab, method, age, sex and clinical context.
Often increased
20- 2,3 Diphosphoglycerate (2,3-DPG)Reference range exampleAdult ( > 16y): 10.5–14 µmol/gLinked diagnostic tests2, 3 Diphosphoglycerate (2
- AldosteroneReference range exampleAdult ( > 16y), Female: 0.13–0.86 nmol/L; Adult ( > 16y), Male: 0.16–0.66 nmol/LLinked diagnostic testsAldosterone Concentration Test
- Blood Urea NitrogenReference range exampleAdult ( > 16y): 6–18 mg/dL; Child (< 10y): 5–15 mg/dLLinked diagnostic testsBlood Urea Nitrogen Tests
- Creatine Kinase2 (CK-MB) IsoenzymeReference range exampleAdult ( > 16y): 0–2 %Linked diagnostic testsCreatine Kinase Concentration
- Creatinine (Blood)Reference range exampleInfant (0 - 1y): 0.1–0.4 mg/dL; Adult ( > 16y), Female: 0.6–1.2 mg/dLLinked diagnostic testsCreatinine Concentration (Blood, Serum Creatinine)
- D-DimerReference range exampleAdult ( > 16y): 0–240 µg/LLinked diagnostic testsD-Dimer Blood Test
- FibrinogenReference range exampleAdult ( > 16y): 150–400 mg/dLLinked diagnostic testsFibrinogen Concentration test
- Gamma-Glutamyltransferase (GGT)Reference range exampleAdult ( > 16y), Female: 6–30 units/L; Adult ( > 16y), Male: 6–38 units/LLinked diagnostic testsGamma-Glutamyltransferase (GGT) Concentration
- HomocysteineReference range exampleAll, Female: 4–15 µmol/L; All, Male: 7–16 µmol/LLinked diagnostic testsHomocysteine Concentration (HCY, Blood)
- Intracranial Pressure (Cerebrospinal Fluid Pressure, CSF Pressure)Linked diagnostic testsIntracranial Prassure Monitoring (CSF Pressure)
- Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDH)Reference range exampleInfant (0 - 1y): 120–250 units/L; Adult ( > 16y): 100–200 units/LLinked diagnostic testsLactate Dehydrogenase Concentration
- Lactic Acid (Venous Blood)Reference range exampleAll: 0.5–2.2 mEq/LLinked diagnostic testsLactic Acid Concentration
- Partial Pressure of Arterial Carbon Dioxide (PaCO2)Reference range exampleAll: 35–45 mm HgLinked diagnostic testsPartial Pressure of Arterial Carbon Dioxide (PCO2, PaCO2)
- PlateletsReference range exampleChild (0 - 16y): 150–450 109/L; Adult ( > 16y): 135–380 109/LLinked diagnostic testsPlatelet Count
- Prothrombin TimeReference range exampleAdult ( > 16y): 10–13 secondsLinked diagnostic testsProthrombin Time (PT)
- Uric Acid, BloodReference range exampleAdult ( > 16y), Female: 2.5–7 mg/dL; Adult ( > 16y), Male: 4–8 mg/dLLinked diagnostic testsBlood Uric Acid Concentration Test
- Urine Hyaline CastsReference range exampleAdult ( > 16y): 0–2 /lpfLinked diagnostic testsUrine Hyaline Cast Concentration
- Urine OsmolalityReference range exampleAdult ( > 16y): 250–950 mOsm/kgLinked diagnostic testsUrine Osmolality
- Urine Specific Gravity (SG)Reference range exampleAdult ( > 16y): 1.005–1.03Linked diagnostic testsUrine Specific Gravity (SG)
- Vitamin B12 (VB12)Reference range exampleAdult ( > 16y): 130–670 pmol/LLinked diagnostic testsVitamin B12 (VB12) Concentration
Often decreased
8- Chloride (Blood, Cl)Reference range exampleAdult ( > 16y): 97–106 mEq/L; Birth - 2wks: 94–106 mEq/LLinked diagnostic testsChloride Concentration (Blood)
- Creatinine Clearance RateReference range exampleAdult ( > 16y), Female: 87–110 ml/minute; Adult ( > 16y), Male: 100–140 ml/minuteLinked diagnostic testsCreatinine Clearance (CrCl)
- Erythrocyte Sedimentation RateReference range exampleAdult ( > 16y), Female: 0–20 mm/Hr; Adult ( > 16y), Male: 0–15 mm/HrLinked diagnostic testserythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR)
- LymphocytesReference range exampleAdult ( > 16y): 25–40 %; 700–3,500 cells/mm3Linked diagnostic testsDifferential White Blood Cell Count Tests, Lymphocytes Count
- Osmolality, Blood (Serum Osmolality)Reference range exampleChild (0 - 16y): 274–290 mOsm/kg; Birth - 2wks: 265–285 mOsm/kgLinked diagnostic testsOsmolality, Blood (Serum Osmolality)
- Sodium (Na, Blood)Reference range exampleInfant (0 - 1y): 134–150 mEq/L; Child (0 - 16y): 136–145 mEq/LLinked diagnostic testsSodium Concentration (Na, Blood)
- Urine ChlorideReference range exampleInfant (0 - 1y): 2–10 mmol/day; Child (0 - 16y): 15–14 mmol/dayLinked diagnostic testsUrine Chloride Concentration
- Urine SodiumReference range exampleChild (0 - 16y): 41–115 mmol/day; Adult ( > 16y): 40–220 mmol/dayLinked diagnostic testsUrine Sodium Quantitative (24hr)
Introduction / full article
Congestive Heart Failure
Efficacy of Alternative and Other Treatments According to GRADE* Ranking:
Thuja (Eastern White Cedar, Thuja Occidentalis) [1, 2, 3, 4]:
Please note, this management does NOT treat the condition itself. It may mildly help with some of the symptoms, and even then has insufficient evidence to back up this claim at present. Little is known about the full effects of Thuja, so it is not recommended for medicinal use. Thuja can be poisonous if ingested in large amounts.
Recommendation: no recommendation (There is insufficient evidence to support claims that Thuja helps to treat congestive heart failure)
Grade of Evidence: very low quality of evidence
* www.gradeworkinggroup.org
Summary References
Treatments:
1. Ades T, Alteri R, Gansler T, Yeargin P, "Complete Guide to Complimentary & Alternative Cancer Therapies", American Cancer Society, Atlanta USA, 2009
2. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002769.htm
3. http://plants.usda.gov/plantguide/pdf/cs_thoc2.pdf
4. http://vsearch.nlm.nih.gov/vivisimo/cgi-bin/query-meta?v%3Aproject=medlineplus&query=thuja&x=0&y=0
5. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/835934
6. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/congestiveheartfailure/htm/index.htm
7. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000158.htm
8. http://www.medicinenet.com/congestive_heart_failure/page2.htm#3whatare
9. http://www.emedicinehealth.com/congestive_heart_failure/page3_em.htm#Congestive Heart Failure Symptoms
10. http://www.cardiologychannel.com/chf/index.shtml
11. http://www.texasheart.org/hic/topics/cond/CHF.cfm
12. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1751-7133
13. http://www.healthscout.com/ency/68/164/main.html