Congestive Heart Failure
... Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) is not a joking matter. ... Some of the main signs and symptoms are when the left ventricle cannot adequately pump blood out of the left atrium, or when one or more of the heart valves becomes leaky or stenotic ("sticky"), blood can "back up" into the lungs. ... Because the heart is not pumping enough blood to the muscles of the body (particularly the legs), some patients become fatigued easily and feel weak all the time. ... Not everyone with heart failure experiences the same symptoms in exactly the same way. Heart failure at one time was an almost untreatable disorder. ... Today, there are many important and effective measures that can be utilized to improve the symptoms, and the survival, of patients with congestive heart failure. ... It is increasing in frequency as our population ages and as we find better ways to help people survive initial heart attacks -- they now can survive to experience CHF.