Signs of heart failure in women

Signs of heart failure in women have their own characteristics, which women need to know by the age of 40 in order to start treatment on time.

Every woman dreams of keeping her youth and beauty as long as possible. But the reality is much harsher. In the period preceding menopause, a woman faces various health problems. She develops symptoms that subsequently lead to chronic diseases.

One of the problems that can overshadow the existence of a woman is cardiovascular disease, in particular heart failure. This is due to a number of reasons.

How to recognize heart failure in women

The heart provides blood supply to all body systems. Failure of the heart and blood vessels leads to heart failure. According to statistics, it is women who most often suffer from this disease. In men, problems in the work of the heart are more likely to lead to myocardial infarction or stroke.

Each person's body is unique, so the symptoms of heart failure in women are different.

Most often, these signs are:

• swelling of the limbs;
• chronic fatigue (even with low physical exertion);
• muscle weakness;
• shortness of breath when walking or moving;
• the inability to quickly and easily change the position of the body;
• wheezing when breathing;
• pain in the region of the heart;
• cough, sometimes hemoptysis;
• blueness of the fingers and toes, as well as the nose, tips of the ears.

A woman usually visits a doctor after she begins to notice these signs in herself. But the specialist has to diagnose the already chronic form of the disease and prescribe emergency treatment. Why is this happening? The fact is that the problems associated with the small and large circles of blood circulation, for the time being, do not find their external expression. The woman feels well, and occasionally mild fatigue or shortness of breath is attributed to age, overweight, so she does not start treatment. Coughing can be a sign of an incipient cold, and many people explain blue fingers with low hemoglobin.

But in fact, the heart gives a signal that it is difficult for it to pump blood, it ceases to cope with its function. He needs treatment. The wheezing heard during breathing indicates that the left myocardium has to work in an enhanced mode. And the blue of organs located away from the heart is due to insufficient supply of blood to them.

Heart failure happens:

• right ventricular;
• left ventricular;
• mixed form.

It depends on the department in which the violations of cardiac activity occur. If a woman develops a pathology of the right ventricle, this is due to pulmonary hypertension, it gradually depletes the body. The causes of left ventricular failure are myocardial infarction and narrowing of a large artery - the aorta.

Although, statistically, heart failure in women is long-term and more often chronic, the possibility of an acute attack cannot be ruled out.

How to explain the occurrence of heart failure in women

In the fair sex, with age, the heart muscle loses the ability to actively contract.

This is due to several reasons related to the peculiarities of the development of the female body, for example:

• problems in the endocrine system,
• restructuring of the female body and preparing it for menopause,
• decrease in the function of sex hormones, as a result of which the protective functions of the body change.

At risk of developing heart failure are women who gave birth after 40 years:

1. Since endothelial cells tend to age, it begins to slowly degrade.
2. The accumulation of cholesterol exacerbates this process, as it contributes to the appearance of plaques that interfere with the free movement of blood.
3. Pregnancy, in turn, disrupts the functioning of many organs and systems, and with age, this can affect the function of the heart.
4. The stress experienced by a woman during childbirth can cause high blood pressure.

Thyroid disease and diabetes also cause frequent high blood pressure.

It is impossible not to take into account the fact that work that causes a sedentary lifestyle, loss of physical fitness and lack of time to improve it also do not contribute to good health. In addition, frequent stresses, mood swings before menstruation make a woman irritated, which is reflected in cardiac activity, which may need treatment.

Many women who dream of staying thin for a long time, as in their youth, tend to go on a diet, exhaust themselves with hunger. But not everyone knows what lies behind it. Constant jumps in weight in the direction of decreasing, and then increasing (when a woman “gets up” from a diet), force the heart to constantly change its mode of operation. It cannot withstand such loads. In addition to heart pathologies, a woman risks getting diseases of the nervous system and gastrointestinal tract.

Some existing diseases, especially those related to the work of the heart, are also the cause of heart failure:

• hypertension,
• violation of the heart rate,
• cardiac ischemia,
• myocarditis.

The first signs do not always confirm this particular disease, but they should not be ignored.

Most often, heart failure affects women who have reached the age of 60-65 years. Symptoms are determined on the basis of already acquired diseases such as hypertension or atherosclerosis. The life expectancy of men is shorter than that of women, so not all of them live to this age, but they develop heart failure against the background of myocardial infarction and often end in death.

Estrogens, which are responsible for a woman's immunity, are effective until menopause, after which their number decreases. This explains the fact that the beautiful half of humanity is protected from such diseases for some time, unlike men.

Unfortunately, this does not allow the doctor to see the initial picture of the disease, and the woman to feel the signs of the disease at the initial stage:

• lost time;
• treatment has not been started;
• the disease progresses.

Such a bleak picture is far from uncommon. Therefore, those women who have atherosclerosis, hypertension, or the symptoms described above should communicate with cardiologists more often.

Acute heart failure in women

An acute form of heart failure should especially alert a woman, because the consequences of this condition can be very serious, which means that treatment should be started as early as possible.

You can recognize the acute form by the following signs:

• sudden, persistent difficulty breathing
• pallor of the skin,
• loss of consciousness,
• severe chest pain
• a sharp drop in blood pressure below 80 mm Hg. Art.,
• arrhythmia.

A high risk group is represented by women after 55 years of age. It is impossible to prevent such an attack, but timely diagnosis, consultation with a doctor, and preventive measures significantly reduce the risk of its occurrence and fatal outcome.

The disease in an acute form develops quite quickly, sometimes rapidly, as a result of which there is a possibility of pulmonary edema or cardiac asthma.

The duration of the attacks ranges from several minutes to several hours, but in both cases it is necessary to call an ambulance.

Women experience all the symptoms of this disease much more acutely than the strong half of humanity. They feel very weak and get tired faster.

Diagnosis of the disease

During the initial examination, the doctor collects an anamnesis and prescribes a set of diagnostic procedures.

Diagnosis of heart failure includes:

1. Electrocardiogram.
2. X-ray examination.
3. Analysis of urine and blood.
4. Ultrasound of the chest and internal organs.

If after all the procedures a diagnosis of "heart failure" is made, then the next important step will be the appropriate treatment and compliance with all the doctor's advice. The disease is dangerous because it manifests itself late, so ignoring any symptom is a negligent attitude to your health. Only consultation with a cardiologist and careful attitude will help you become a full-fledged member of society again.