What is Congestive Heart Failure?

Heart failure is the heart's incapacity to perform its normal function appropriately and this is usually due to weakened or poor pumping which fails to circulate blood sufficiently around the body. This results in "pooling" of blood in various tissues which manifests as leg and sometimes abdominal swelling, breathlessness and easy fatigue. There are many causes of weakened heart muscle or heart failure but in the western world this is most often due to ischaemic heart disease or heart attack (myocardial infarction). Heart failure is easily diagnosed with echocardiography (ultrasound test of the heart) and appropriate treatment can help relieve symptoms and prevent deaths.