Learning to live with heart failure may be easier if you understand what's happening inside the body. This section explains what happens when someone develops heart failure.
Long standing high blood pressure can cause the ventricle of the heart to become enlarged, just as any muscle does when it works hard. The result causes stiffness of the heart chamber, and inefficiency in the pumping activity which leads to congestive heart failure.
Heart failure can ensue from heart damage, following a heart attack, seen more commonly in women than men. It is possible to develop congestive heart failure if you have a serious heart murmur an indication that the heart valves are not closing, or otherwise operating properly. Incomplete closure of the heart valves allows a backflow of blood into the heart chambers. An echocardiogram can establish the nature and severity of any heart murmur that might contribute to congestive heart failure.
Problems with the electrical signals in the heart are also a known cause of congestive heart failure. When the electrical impulses that make the heart contract and relax follow or originate other than in the upper heart chamber, the heart can beat irregularly, causing ineffective pumping and congestive heart failure.
The above information thankfully comes from the emaxhealth.com at the following link.
