Congestive Heart Failure (CHF)

John Osborne, MD, Ph.D, FACC

Congestive heart failure is the inability of the heart to supply the body with needed nutrients and oxygen. It can occur when the heart muscle does not pump vigorously enough to propel blood forward through the body, or when the filling of the heart between beats becomes more difficult and inefficient.

In both types of heart failure, fluid backs-up into the lungs and tissues. This increased pressure in the lungs results in fluid moving into the breathing and tissue spaces, causing shortness of breath, fatigue, loss of appetite, abdominal bloating, ankle swelling, weight gain, cough, a rapid pulse, nausea and/or chest discomfort.

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