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Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) Definition Diet Herbal Supplements Exercise Yoga/Tai Chi/Qigong MindBody Spirituality Pet Therapy Naturopathy Homeopathy Ayurveda Definition Congestive heart failure (CHF) is more a clinical syndrome, rather than a specific disease with one origin.  While underlying coronary heart disease is the most common cause in the United States, there are many other conditions such as hypertension, valvular heart disease, congenital heart disease (birth defects) and heart muscle disease of an unknown cause which can all lead to CHF. CHF is a rather com- mon condition, approxi- mately 2 million people in the United States are being treated for CHF, and there are as many as 400,000 new cases each year (1). The prognosis of such persons has been assessed by several means including symp- toms, exercise capacity, heart pumping capacity, blood sodium and hormone analysis, and by assess- ment of heart rhythm dis- turbances.  Most, if not all of these assessments, pre- dict a mortality rate exceeding 50% for those with the most advanced forms of CHF (2). While the left heart normally ejects 55-70% of its blood and thus the EF=55-70%, in the majority of patients with CHF the EF is reduced.  This decrease leads to blood pooling in the lungs and from there it backs up into the right heart chambers.  In fact, the most common cause of right heart failure is left heart failure.  Other caus- es of right heart failure include severely elevated pressure in the lungs due to underlying lung disease or extensive blood clots to the lungs, volume overload of the right heart due to abnor- mal shunts or other birth defects, valvular heart dis- ease, coronary heart In most people affected with CHF, the underlying problem is an inability of the left heart muscle (left ventricle) to normally con- tract, leading to a reduction in the left ventricular ejection fraction (EF). It is important to note that in up to one-third of people affected with CHF, there is nothing wrong with the contractile ability of the heart, but instead it is the relaxation of the heart which is impaired leading to elevated pressures in the heart.

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