Heart failure

Heart failure refers to a syndrome in which, under normal venous return conditions, cardiac damage causes a reduction in cardiac output that cannot meet the metabolic needs of body tissues. According to clinical symptoms, it can be divided into left-sided, right-sided, and biventricular failure. The most typical symptom of heart failure is dyspnea of varying degrees, which worsens with activity. In severe cases, patients may experience orthopnea, cough with copious white or pink frothy sputum, decreased appetite, and bilateral lower extremity edema. In addition, patients with rheumatic heart disease, those who have had acute myocardial infarction, and patients with dilated cardiomyopathy or hypertension should be more vigilant when the hot summer arrives and should have their hearts checked regularly. In summer, when the weather is hot, the body dilates superficial blood vessels to dissipate heat, and blood is distributed more to the body surface, reducing blood supply to the heart and brain. This aggravates the ischemic and hypoxic response in patients with cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, increasing damage and necrosis of cardiac and cerebral cells and worsening the condition. Furthermore, in muggy weather, patients are prone to irritability, which can cause sympathetic excitation, increasing heart rate and myocardial oxygen consumption. In addition, the hot and sultry summer weather also greatly compromises sleep quality. These factors all make the heart "fragile" patients prone to heart failure in summer. Heart failure is the ultimate outcome of various cardiovascular diseases, is the most common cause of death from cardiovascular disease, has a high mortality rate, and its 5-year survival rate is similar to that of malignant tumors, seriously affecting patients' quality of life. The early manifestations of heart failure are not typical. Some patients may experience shortness of breath during relatively strenuous activity, chest tightness and shortness of breath when climbing stairs, which is relieved after rest. Some may experience suffocation or chest tightness after falling asleep at night and need several pillows to be comfortable. Others may have bilateral lower extremity edema every night, fatigue, weakness, dizziness, and memory decline. In addition to the above clinical manifestations, some routine examinations can be performed, such as echocardiography, which is currently the most accurate, simplest, and most commonly used clinical method for diagnosing heart failure. There are also some patients with occult heart failure who do not feel particularly unusual; if echocardiography and other examinations had not shown cardiac enlargement and reduced function, these patients would have almost missed the optimal treatment window.