When your heart is weak, it cannot pump enough blood to satisfy the body’s needs. Before learning about the signs of weak heart, let’s understand the normal functioning first. In a healthy heart, the right side of the heart pumps blood to the lungs, where it absorbs oxygen. After then, it is pumped from the left side of the heart to the body, where it is used to deliver oxygen and essential nutrients.

The heart can overwork itself, become weak, and eventually fail due to various causes. The heart may become weak and unable to pump effectively due to conditions like coronary heart disease, diabetes, and excessive blood pressure.

What are the signs of weak heart?

When a heart weakens, it strives to make up for this weakness by pumping more quickly. When this occurs, the heart muscles start to thicken or stretch, both of which could weaken the heart.

Here are some typical signs of a weak heart to assist you in diagnosing the condition if you think you might have one, though it’s better to see your doctor and have it checked thoroughly. Typical indicators of a weak heart include:

• persistent tiredness
• a heartbeat that is rapid or hammering
• swollen ankles, feet, and legs
• chest pressure when trying to sleep flat
• internal bloating
• breathing difficulty

A weak heart may result from a disorder known as cardiomyopathy. Cardiomyopathy is a heart illness that weakens the heart muscles and impairs the heart’s ability to pump blood to the body’s other organs as effectively as it should. This heart disease symptoms include:

• weakness and fatigue
• feeling unsteady or faint
• legs, ankles, and foot swelling
• Fainting spells
• Fatigue
• excessive blood pressure
• difficulty sleeping flat
• coughing while lying down
• an ache in the chest
• respiration difficulty
• chest pressure
• the feeling of fast heartbeats.

Causes of weak heart

Cardiomyopathy typically happens due to the body attempting to compensate for a failing heart.

High blood pressure makes it more difficult for your heart to pump blood. The left ventricle, in particular, may thicken due to your heart beating more vigorously.

Chronically high blood pressure causes the arteries to constrict and the heart to grow larger. A heart that is big and feeble cannot pump blood effectively. You can check your BP by using the best BP monitoring machines in India.

Smoking: Smoking taints the clean air that the body uses to replace its blood. Cigarette smoke contains compounds that can harm the heart muscle, raising the risk of cardiovascular disease. Your heart and blood arteries may also suffer long-term harm from the substances.

Obesity: An obese person’s body needs more blood to carry oxygen and nourishes their essential organs and tissues. When blood pressure rises to suit this need, the heart will pump more forcefully to keep up with the body’s demands. Additionally, obesity may be a factor in the anatomical and functional alterations that weaken the heart.

Arteries Narrowing: Narrowing and hardening of the arteries is a disorder known as atherosclerosis. A severe case of atherosclerosis can result in coronary artery disease (CAD). This happens when the amount of blood the heart pumps out is insufficient to maintain normal bodily functions. Over time, this can weaken the heart muscle and cause heart failure.

All these cause may have raised a question in your mind that How young can one have a heart attack?

Treatments for a weak heart

The course of treatment for a weak heart relies on how severely your heart has been harmed. Many things can weaken the heart, including heart attacks, coronary artery disease, damaged heart valves, hypertension, and genetic conditions.

You might not need to get treated until symptoms start to show. Although specific therapies and drugs can help you manage weak hearts, they cannot really be reversed. Therapeutic options for weak hearts include;

1. Alterations to a heart-healthy lifestyle: You might alter your way of life by giving up smoking, striving for a healthy weight, eating a balanced diet, and exercising regularly to build heart strength.
2. Lowering your salt consumption.
3. Cutting back on your alcohol intake.
4. Taking medication: Drugs designed to lessen the fluid burden on the heart may be helpful. A few of these medicines are:
5. Beta-blockers: These help to lower blood pressure and heart rate.
6. Dioxin (Lanoxin): This slows the heartbeat and strengthens the heart’s contractions.
7. Diuretics: These aid in reducing fluid retention in the body.
8. Ivabradine(Corlanor): This slows down the heartbeat.

Conclusion

When your heart has been overworked to the point that it is weak and unable to pump enough blood for your body’s requirements, you have a weak heart. The right care and medication can cure certain weak heart situations. Treatments including regular exercise, quitting smoking, weight loss, and moderation in alcohol intake may all assist in strengthening the your heart and reducing its progression. The first thing you should do if you think you have a weak heart is to see a doctor.

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