Causes of heart failure

Heart failure is the inability of the heart to maintain oxygenation of the body tissues due to pump failure.It means that the heart can not effectively pump all the blood returning to it so that the blood is either pooled in lungs (in case of left sided heart failure) or in the peripheries (in case of right sided heart failure).But its the left sided failure that is more common.Right sided cardiac failure usually occurs secondary to left sided failure.There are many causes of heart failure a few including diabetes , hypertension , Myocardial infarction , myocarditis , dilated and constricted cardiomyopathies etc.
There are two major symptoms of cardiac failure:
1.shortness of breath-this initially occurs only on exersion.As the disease progresses the patient develops orthopnea which means breathlessness on lying flat and later on develops paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea which usually awakes the patient from sleep at night.
2.pulmonary edema-this occurs due to the pooling of blood in the lungs due to left sided cardiac failure as the heart cant pump the blood to the peripheral tissues.There is cough with a frothy pink sputum.
...In the treatment of cardiac failure 3 D's should be remebered i.e
1.Diuretics
2.Digoxing
3.Dila tors(vasodilators)