You can pass away in your sleep from heart failure and it often occurs due to a sudden cardiac arrest, which can also be a complication of high blood pressure, coronary artery disease or heart failure.
The risk of dying in your sleep from heart failure if the above conditions are not managed properly or is undiagnosed, as your heart's electrical system can malfunction during sleep and result in a fatal arrhythmia.
Signs that you might die in your sleep from heart failure include sweating and chest pain which is linked to sudden cardiac arrest.
In heart failure, what fails first is your left ventricle.
The left ventricle is your heart's main pumping chamber and is what often fails first when you have heart failure.
The reason the left ventricle fails first in heart failure is because the left ventricle pumps oxygen rich blood to the rest of your body and when it becomes too weak to squeeze properly or cannot relax normally, the blood then backs up into your lungs and leads to symptoms like shortness of breath.
And if the left sided failure becomes severe, then it can also lead to a backup, which affects the right side of your heart and cause fluid to build up in the rest of your body.
The lifestyle that triggers heart failure is living a sedentary lifestyle and not being active as well as eating a poor diet, smoking, uncontrolled weight and even excessive drinking of alcohol.
Other factors that lead to and trigger heart failure are use of recreational drugs, chronic stress, and eating foods like fried foods, foods high in unhealthy fats, sodium sugar and refined carbohydrates, which can result in conditions like atherosclerosis or plaque buildup in your arteries as well as obesity and high blood pressure.
Living a sedentary lifestyle also leads to high blood pressure, weight gain and elevated cholesterol, which increase your risk of heart disease and heart failure.
Ongoing and chronic stress also leads to high blood pressure and can cause you to cope with unhealthy behaviors like smoking, drinking or overeating, which also can result in heart failure and heart disease.
Remaining active and walking around, running, jogging and just moving around and eating a healthy balanced diet and quitting smoking if you smoke can help reduce your risk of heart failure and heart disease.
The stage of heart failure that is swollen legs is in stage C and stage D of heart failure.
Swollen legs occur in stage C and stage D of heart failure due to the heart's pumping ability becoming impaired significantly.
In stage C heart failure, the swelling of the legs may be milder or localized, although stage D of heart failure, it's often more pronounced, severe and widespread in the legs, feet and abdomen.
In stage C of heart failure, you might experience limitations during physical activity and symptoms like fatigue, breathlessness and swelling might appear.
And at this point of heart failure, you are showing symptoms of heart failure, but might not yet be at the advanced stage of heart failure.
In stage D which is the advanced stage of heart failure, the swelling becomes more severe and debilitating, which causes symptoms like fatigue, rapid heartbeat, nausea and fainting spells, severe limitations in daily activities, difficulty breathing, even at rest and significant buildup of fluid also called edema in your abdomen, ankles and legs.
Swollen legs occur in heart failure because the heart can't pump blood efficiently and so the blood backs up in the veins.
This backup of blood in the veins causes fluid to build up in your body's tissues and leads to the swelling.
The swelling in the legs and feet and ankles and even the belly or abdomen can also be a result of the kidneys not working properly to remove excess sodium and water and it's also known as edema when the swelling occurs.
The reason why the belly swells with heart failure is because the heart is weakened in heart failure and the weakened heart cannot pump blood as efficiently as it normally should, which causes a backup of fluid that leaks into the tissues, which is a condition called edema.
The fluid buildup, especially in your abdomen, is often accompanied with weight gain and can also cause fluid to build up in your lungs and lead to shortness of breath.
This condition is also known as ascites in severe cases and can be due to a backup in the liver and gut.
The swelling or pain in your belly or upper abdomen can occur due to the buildup of fluid, which is a frequent symptom of worsening heart failure.
The three foods heart failure patients should avoid are food high in saturated fats and trans fats, sugary drinks and sodas as well as sugary foods and high sodium processed foods.
Examples of high sodium processed foods that heart failure patients should avoid are frozen dinners, canned soups, fast foods, processed foods like hot dogs, bacon, ham, salty snacks like pretzels and chips and condiments like salad dressing and soy sauce.
These foods should be avoided when you have heart failure as excess sodium causes your body to retain fluid, which increases blood pressure and strains the heart as well as causes swelling.
Examples of foods that are high in saturated fats and trans fats that you should avoid with heart failure are fried foods, fatty cuts of red meat and foods that are made with shortening or lard.
The reason why heart failure patients should avoid these foods high in saturated fats and trans fats are because the fats can raise bad cholesterol levels also known as LDL cholesterol and can result in a buildup of fatty deposits in your arteries and increase your risk of a heart attack and stroke.
Sugary drinks and sugary foods should also be avoided in heart failure as the added sugars provide empty calories, contribute to weight gain and can worsen your blood sugar control.
The silent killer of heart failure is high blood pressure.
High blood pressure is the silent killer of heart failure, because high blood pressure does not have any symptoms and can damage your arteries and lead to heart failure.
Other underlying conditions that can cause heart failure can also be silent killers of heart failure as they progress over time without any obvious symptoms that can include high cholesterol, diabetes and coronary artery disease.
High blood pressure puts extra strain on your arteries and usually has no symptoms and uncontrolled high blood pressure can damage your arteries and make it harder for your heart top pump the blood effectively and increase your risk of a heart attack as well as heart failure over time.
The only way to know if you do have high blood pressure is to check your blood pressure with a blood pressure monitor.
Walking is also good for heart failure as walking helps get the blood flowing and your heart pumping and increases your functional capacity.