¿Qué te lleva a la insuficiencia cardíaca?

Madrid, Nov. 29 (efesalud.com). Dr. Carlos Macaya Miguel accompanies us to the cardiology laboratory lobby to videoblog about Heart Failure (HF), a disease that caused the death of 100 people a day in 2011 in Spain. This condition prevents the heart from pumping enough blood to the body. "The heart muscle is unable to collect the blood that reaches it through the veins and distribute it through the arteries throughout the body," explains the doctor. This causes a feeling of fatigue and a physical inability to eliminate natural waste, causing fluid accumulation in the lungs and other parts of the body. And what are the most common symptoms that make us suspect we have HF? "When a person, for no apparent reason, has difficulty breathing or feels short of breath (dyspnea), even at rest or lying in bed, preventing sleep. Other times, the individual feels weakness or tremendous fatigue (asthenia), which prevents them from, for example, climbing a hill. Fluid congestion in the legs (edema) may also occur, especially in the ankles and feet." And what cardiovascular conditions cause this difficulty pumping or heart failure? "Coronary artery disease, heart attacks, angina, high blood pressure, heart valve problems, and cardiomyopathies," Macaya explains. Heart failure affects 6.8% of the Spanish population over 45 years of age, a total of 1,320,376 people, and its prevalence increases with age, reaching 20% ​​in people over 85 years of age. "It's a problem of enormous magnitude, both in terms of healthcare and added costs," says Macaya, "since HF becomes a chronic condition and hospitalization accounts for 67% of the total cost of the disease. More videos and reports at http://www.efesalud.com/