What causes congestive heart failure?

Elizabeth Taylor’s death brings increased awareness

 

 

Screen legend Elizabeth Taylor’s death from congestive heart failure will no doubt lead to increased awareness of the disease. The 79-year-old actress reportedly suffered with CHF, as it is commonly abbreviated, for several years. But here are a few facts about the disease.
Congestive heart failure occurs when the heart muscle is unable to pump sufficient amounts of oxygen-rich blood to the rest of the body.
According to medicinenet.com, there are several factors that can cause CHF, such as diseases that weaken or stiffen the heart muscle; or diseases that increase oxygen demand beyond the heart muscle’s capability to deliver it adequately. Hypertension, or high blood pressure, and extensive alcohol abuse can also lead to congestive heart failure.
But CHF affects more than just the heart. Webmd.com lists the following potential complications of congestive heart failure: lack of proper blood flow can result in diminished kidney function and even renal failure; congestion in the lungs (pulmonary edema) which inhibits a person’s ability to breathe normally or exercise; fluid accumulation in the liver, impairing its ability to release toxins and produce essential proteins; inability of the intestines to absorb nutrients and medicines; and fluid retention in the extremities.
In short, if left untreated, congestive heart failure can affect every organ in the body.
Treatment typically includes rest, a modified diet to reduce the consumption of salt (a common factor in hypertension), and possibly medications to lower blood pressure and ease the flow of blood and lessen fluid retention.
Taylor, who was also known for her activism in the fight against AIDS and other humanitarian causes, had suffered multiple illnesses and injuries in the course of her life, it was widely reported.
She underwent an appendectomy and an emergency tracheotomy and endured such ordeals as a punctured esophagus, a hysterectomy, dysentery, an ulcerated eye, smashed spinal disks, phlebitis, skin cancer and hip replacements, the Los Angeles Times reported.
And, according to the Daily News, in 1997, she had a benign brain tumor removed. Taylor had undergone heart surgery in 2009 to replace a leaky heart valve that had occurred because of the congestive heart failure.