What is heart failure?

Heart failure is a condition where your heart isn’t pumping as well as it should be. When your heart is damaged and isn’t pumping properly it can become bigger, weaker, or stiffer. This change in the way your heart is pumping causes extra fluid to build up in your body and sometimes in your lungs.

 

Lots of things can cause damage to your heart, including:

• heart attack

• high blood pressure

• drinking too much alcohol

• a problem with your heart valves

• something you are born with

• infection

• some medicines (e.g. cancer therapies) and drugs (e.g. cocaine or amphetamines)

• pregnancy

• abnormal heart rhythm

 

Heart failure is a serious problem and help from your doctor is important. Work with them to help improve your heart and health. You can’t always make the heart strong like it used to be but you can help the heart to work better. This will make it easier to do things that are important to you.

​

Symptoms of heart failure

​

Heart failure causes extra fluid to build up in your body and you may feel very weak and tired. 

​

Other symptoms of heart failure can include:

• difficulty breathing or shortness of breath

• swollen ankles or legs

• a bloated stomach

• pain in the chest

• a fast or racing heart beat (palpitations)

• feeling dizzy

• coughing

• loss of appetite (not hungry).

​

​

Diagnosis and tests

​

Your doctor may order some of these tests to diagnose heart failure:

• echocardiogram

• electrocardiogram (ECG)

• coronary angiogram

• chest X-ray

• blood tests