Understanding Heart Failure
Diet and Nutrition
- Are Three Squares a Day the Only Healthy Way?
- Avoiding Calorie Traps
- Changing Our Eating Habits
- Mindful Eating
- Putting the Pyramid Into Action
- Choosing Carbohydrates Wisely
- Choosing Less Calories, Salt and Alcohol
- Choosing the Right Fats & Carbohydrates
- Controlling Fats When Shopping and Cooking
- Controlling Portion Sizes
- Food and Nutrition
- High Blood Cholesterol - Cooking Healthy Meals
- Reading the Food Label
- The DASH Diet
- The Importance of Healthy Eating
- Weight Loss for the Long-term
- Weight Loss/Management Center
- Weight Management Center
- What To Eat When You Want To Lose Weight
Cardiac Procedures
- Cardiovascular Center of Excellence
- Angiogram, Coronary
- Angioplasty
- CABG
- Cardiac Catheterization
- Cardiac Stress Test
- Computed Tomography (CT) Scan
- Coronary Angiogram
- Coronary Angiography
- Coronary Artery Bypass Graft - CABG
- Doppler Ultrasound
- Echocardiogram
- Electrocardiogram
- Electrophysiology Study
- Nuclear Stress Test
- Pacemaker Implant
- Venography
The heart is a muscle. It pumps blood containing oxygen and nutrients throughout the body.
We need oxygen and nutrients to work……to eat…and even to rest.
Normally, the heart pumps enough blood to all the parts of your body.
But when you have heart failure, your heart is weakened, and pumps less blood.
When this happens, your body tries to help the heart pump more blood by releasing chemicals, called hormones, which make the heart bigger.
But over time, this actually weakens your heart more, and it pumps even less blood.
If your body does not get enough blood, it begins holding onto fluid. Slowly the fluid begins building up. This is called edema, and is the cause of many heart failure symptoms.
Shortness of breath, one of most alarming symptoms of heart failure, is caused by fluid build-up in the lungs.
Swelling and loss of your appetite are other symptoms of heart failure.
They can occur if fluid buildup in the feet, legs, hands, face and abdomen. Heart failure can also make you feel very tired.
That’s because the parts of your body are not getting the blood they need to work properly. The weaker your heart gets, the worse these symptoms become.
If they get too bad, you may need to go to the hospital.
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