Congestive heart failurecan be passed on from generation to generation.
What is Congestive Heart Failure?
The condition involves thickening of the heart muscle in any wall of the heart.
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Symptoms vary even among members with the condition in the same family.
This condition may cause life-threateningarrhythmia, sudden death, and heart failure.
The heart becomes unable to pump blood as efficiently as usual.
Over time, this condition results in heart failure.
Familial dilated cardiomyopathy affects both adults and children.
Symptoms typically begin in mid-adulthood, but can occur at any time from infancy to late adulthood.
In some cases, the first sign of the disorder is sudden cardiac death.
The severity of the condition varies among affected individuals, even within the same family.
Heart failure is a common cause of mortality among people with this disease.
One possible cause of congenital heart disease is a viral disease that the mother carries while pregnant.
Some heart defects can be linked to alcohol and drug abuse.
Sometimes the condition can be passed down.
Among newborn babies, structural heart abnormalities are common, appearing in 10 infants per 1000 live births.
Congenital heart disease may not be evident at infancy.
More than a quarter of congenital heart diagnoses occur when the child is older or later on in adulthood.
People with diabetes are at a higher risk of developing heart failure, and vice versa.
Arrhythmias
Cardiac arrhythmia is when the heart beats erraticallyeither too fast or too slow.
Among the many heart disorders, arrhythmia is the most common.
Patients with heart failure are susceptible to arrhythmias.
When blood is forced through inelastic and narrowed arteries, the heart’s workload is increased.
Over time, the heart thickens and becomes enlarged and less efficient at pumping blood throughout the body.
Genes may play a part in high blood pressure.
Family history of hypertension, combined with poor diet and smoking, can also increase the risk.
In 2016, 82,735 deaths were attributed to high blood pressure.
The death rate increased by 18% during a 10-year span, from 2006 to 2016.
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