Everyone Healthy Library
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 common
Incidenceis approximately 1 in 50 people
Linked signs and symptoms
32Each sign/symptom opens its own page and links back to related conditions.
- Ankle Swelling (Ankle Oedema)
- Appetite Loss (Anorexia)
- Blood Pressure Below Normal (Hypotension)
- Blood Pressure High (Hypertension)
- Breath Shortness (Dyspnoea)
- Breathing Difficulty When Lying Flat (Orthopnoea)
- Cough: Nocturnal (Coughing at Night)
- Dizziness
- Face Swollen
- Fatigue
- Feet Cold
- Fingers Cold
- Fluid Collection in Abdominal Cavity (Ascites)
- Heart Murmur (Detected by Stethoscope)
- Heart or Pulse Rate Raised (Tachycardia)
- Lung Fluid Accumulation (Oedema Pulmonary)
- Mind: Confusion
- Mind: Depression
- Mind: Malaise
- Muscle Wasting
- Nausea
- Neck: Visible Pulsations
- Nose Bleed (Epistaxis)
- Pain: Chest
- Paroxysmal Nocturnal Dyspnoea (PND - Waking Up at Night from Lack of Breath)
- Poor Exercise Tolerance
- Skin Bluish Coloration (Cyanosis)
- Skin: Swelling Beneath The Skin (Angioedema)
- Swelling (Oedema, Edema)
- Urination Increase At Night (Nocturia)
- Weight Loss (Body Mass Index Decreased)
- Wheezing
Linked drugs / medications
23Medication information is educational only. A doctor or pharmacist should advise whether any medicine is appropriate.
- Candesartan
- Captopril
- Carvedilol
- Digoxin
- Dopamine
- Enalapril
- Fosinopril
- Frusemide (Furosemide)
- Glyceryl Trinitrate (Nitroglycerine)
- Hydrochlorothiazide
- Indapamide
- Isosorbide dinitrate
- Isosorbide mononitrate
- Lisinopril
- Nebivolol
- Oxprenolol
- Perindopril
- Quinapril
- Ramipril
- Sodium nitroprusside
- Spironolactone
- Trandolapril
- Valsartan
Treatments, therapies and supportive options
32Grouped by treatment type. These are educational database links, not personal treatment recommendations. Evidence labels are shown only where stored in the EH database.
Surgery
8Medical therapy
9- Artificial Heart ImplantationWeakly in Favour(Low Evidence)
- Bilevel Positive Airway Pressure (BiPAP)Weakly in Favour(Low Evidence)
- Cardiac Defibrillator ImplantWeakly in Favour(Low Evidence)
- Coronary Artery BypassWeakly in Favour(Low Evidence)
- Heart TransplantWeakly in Favour(Low Evidence)
- Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) ImplantationWeakly in Favour(Low Evidence)
- Mitral Valve RepairWeakly in Favour(Low Evidence)
- Pacemaker ImplantWeakly in Favour(Low Evidence)
- Surgical Left Ventricular RemodelingWeakly in Favour(Low Evidence)
Lifestyle changes
9- Fluid RestrictionWeakly in Favour(Low Evidence)
- Home or Self MonitoringWeakly in Favour(Low Evidence)
- Moderate Physical Activity
- Moderate Physical ActivityWeakly in Favour(Low Evidence)
- Reduce or Stop Smoking
- Reduce or Stop SmokingStrongly in Favour(High Evidence)
- RestWeakly in Favour(Low Evidence)
- Weight Reduction
- Weight ReductionStrongly in Favour(High Evidence)
Behavioural changes
3Vitamins and minerals
1Linked diagnostic tests and investigations
10These are pulled from both EH diagnostic-test link tables, including the older large test-link table.
Biological markers/agents
9This 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
7- AmmoniaReference range exampleAdult ( > 16y): 6–48 µmol/LLinked diagnostic testsAmmonia Concentration Test
- Blood pHReference range exampleAll: 7.35–7.45Linked diagnostic testsBlood pH Test
- 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
- HomocysteineReference range exampleAll, Female: 4–15 µmol/L; All, Male: 7–16 µmol/LLinked diagnostic testsHomocysteine Concentration (HCY, Blood)
- PlateletsReference range exampleChild (0 - 16y): 150–450 109/L; Adult ( > 16y): 135–380 109/LLinked diagnostic testsPlatelet Count
- Urine Specific Gravity (SG)Reference range exampleAdult ( > 16y): 1.005–1.03Linked diagnostic testsUrine Specific Gravity (SG)
Often decreased
2- Creatinine Clearance RateReference range exampleAdult ( > 16y), Female: 87–110 ml/minute; Adult ( > 16y), Male: 100–140 ml/minuteLinked diagnostic testsCreatinine Clearance (CrCl)
- Partial Pressure of Arterial Carbon Dioxide (PaCO2)Reference range exampleAll: 35–45 mm HgLinked diagnostic testsPartial Pressure of Arterial Carbon Dioxide (PCO2, PaCO2)
Introduction / full article
Heart Failure
Efficacy of Alternative and Other Treatments According to GRADE* Ranking:
Vitamin E [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]:
Please note, this management does NOT treat the condition itself. It may mildly help in preventing some of the symptoms, and even then has insufficient evidence to back up this claim at present. Please note, this acts as a PREVENTATIVE treatment, and not necessarily symptomatic relief. This vitamin can have harmful effects if taken in doses higher than 100% of the recommended daily allowance.
Recommendation: No recommendation (There is no evidence to support claims that vitamin E supplements can help prevent the risk of developing heart disease.)
Grade of Evidence: low quality of evidence
* www.gradeworkinggroup.org
Summary References
Treatments:
1. http://www.cancer.org/Treatment/TreatmentsandSideEffects/ComplementaryandAlternativeMedicine/HerbsVitaminsandMinerals/vitamin-e
2. http://nccam.nih.gov/news/alerts/vitamine/vitamine.htm
3. http://nccam.nih.gov/research/results/spotlight/070106.htm
4. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/vitamine.html
5. http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/76/4/703
6. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2586922/?tool=pmcentrez
7. http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/vitamine.asp#h3