Dr. Esteban Kosak 
Acute heart failure is a condition that happens out of a sudden in people with underlying heart problems, severe illnesses, or drug abuse.
Heart failure is a medical term that, in a nutshell, describes that the heart is not functioning well. Notably, the heart is the organ in charge of moving the blood across the body through the blood vessels. The blood carries the oxygen, which is the essential element the organs need to function. Therefore, if the heart is not pumping effectively, the blood stagnates, and with it, the oxygen too.
If there is acute heart failure, there must be chronic heart failure. In fact, most of the time, acute heart failure will develop in the context of patients suffering from a previous congestive (or chronic) heart failure that relapses or worsens. The former term refers to an out of a sudden change and decrease in how their heart is functioning. On the other hand, the latter term refers to a heart disease that will stay overtime with a permanent reduction in the heart’s capabilities that could also get worse in the long run.
Furthermore, the most common cause of acute heart failure in a person without a previous diagnosis of congestive heart failure is myocardial infarction (heart attack). However, several other possibilities exist for it too. For example, there are heart valves’ problems, heart-swelling, arrhythmias, drug abuse (like cocaine), severe infections.
In congestive heart failure several causes exist for its development. For naming some, coronary artery disease, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus are amongst the most common causes of it. Nevertheless, numerous diseases and conditions could manage to impair the heart’s work. When the diseases change and damage the heart structure. Heart failure will not go away; in turn, patients would need treatment for coping with the bothering and dangerous symptoms it produces.
This tool is a congestive heart failure symptoms checker. It gathers the most important symptoms, signs, and risk factors for having heart failure.
Sadly, the estimation is that heart failure cases will continue to grow over time. This situation exists because of more patients surviving to acute and life-threatening events like heart attacks. Besides, people now tend to live longer. Therefore, the probabilities that cardiovascular conditions end in heart disease substantially increase.
When somebody has an acute event like heart failure, it will need to rush immediately to the ER because of the severe and alarming symptoms it can produce. Therefore, the critical conditions that impair the heart out of a sudden, require immediate healthcare attention.
Nevertheless, many people are living with high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking cigarettes, and more. They are at risk of developing heart disease if not closely monitored. This tool offers a probability for anybody who uses it to determine if they have symptoms or are at risk of developing in the future heart failure.
It is important to note that for just detecting cardiovascular disease risk. There is another tool for that, cardiovascular disease symptoms checker. On the other hand, in this tool, the focus will be heart failure and its symptoms.
Please, feel free to use this tool in order to know the likelihood of you having or developing in the future heart failure. Importantly, heart failure symptoms checker is free to use and would only take a few minutes to complete. So, do not be caught off guard by this awful condition.
- Question of
Have you been diagnosed previously with heart failure?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Are you older than 60 years?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Are you older than 75 years?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Have you been diagnosed with hypertension? (high blood pressure)
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Have you measured your blood pressure within the last two years and was under control (less than 130/85 mmHg)? (if you did not measure it click no)
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Have you been diagnosed with diabetes mellitus? (high blood sugar)
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Have you been diagnosed with high cholesterol levels? (Dyslipidemia)
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you have obesity? (please search in google the “BMI formula,” and with your weight and height it will calculate you that diagnosis)
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you consume nowadays or in the past cocaine?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you suffer from other chronic conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis, LUPUS, hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism, anemia?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Did any of your parents die from heart disease before they were 65 years old?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you exercise at least five times a week for 30 minutes with brisk walking intensity as a minimum?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Have you had a previous heart attack?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you have a dry cough in the night (without mucus)?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you have shortness of breath and fatigue when performing ordinary activities, such as walking short distances or climbing the short stairs in your home?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you have swollen ankles? (Only answer yes if it is both ankles at the same time and they bother you when walking or standing upright for long periods)
- Yes
- No
- Question of
When you are sleeping during the night, do you have sudden episodes of shortness of breath or breathlessness that wake you up?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do this symptom of shortness of breath stop when you are at rest sitting still? (if you don’t have symptoms just answer no)
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you have excessive fatigue and shortness of breath, but only when doing mild physical activity? (Therefore, this means you can perform your ordinary activities without having these symptoms)
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Every time you are lying down, are you having shortness of breath? (Therefore, changing to a sitting position alleviates this symptom)
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Are you having chest pain?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you feel like your heart is pumping out of your chest?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you have nausea?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you feel weak and exhausted all the time?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Are you urinating far less amount of urine than used to throughout the whole day?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you smoke cigarettes?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Have you smoked cigarettes for more than five years? (if you do not smoke, please click no)
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Have you smoked cigarettes for more than ten years? (if you do not smoke, please click no)
- Yes
- No
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