Heart failure is a condition where the heart is unable to supply blood to other parts of the body, which can cause several organs of the body to not function optimally or even stop functioning.
"Heart failure is a clinical syndrome characterized by main symptoms such as shortness of breath, swelling in the ankles, and fatigue during activities," said heart and blood vessel specialist Novi Yanti Sari from Siloam Hospital Kebon Jeruk and Lippo Village in a written statement.
According to him, symptoms of heart failure are often accompanied by physical signs such as increased jugular venous pressure, rhonchi sounds in the lungs and peripheral edema .
This condition occurs due to structural and/or functional abnormalities in the heart that cause increased pressure within the heart chambers and/or decreased ability of the heart to pump blood, both at rest and during physical activity.
"Heart failure is most often caused by dysfunction of the heart muscle (myocardium), either systolic, diastolic, or a combination of both," said Dr. Novi.
He explained that left-sided and right-sided heart failure are different.
Left-sided heart failure causes fluid buildup in the lungs, which is characterized by symptoms of shortness of breath, while right-sided heart failure more often causes swelling in the legs and abdomen due to fluid buildup in the body's circulatory system.
