Chest congestion is an accumulation of fluids and mucus in the lungs, which can cause symptoms of pain, discomfort, tenderness, coughing and difficulty breathing. Chest congestion can be a sign of a serious heart or lung illness or disorder that requires urgent medical treatment. Chest congestion can produce both a productive (mucus-expelling) cough or a dry cough. In some cases, chest congestion can be diagnosed by listening to the breathing sounds and x-ray images of the chest.
Chest congestion can also affect people with chronic disease such as congestive heart failure, where a weakened heart is unable to pump blood effectively, causing fluid to back up into the lungs or cystic fibrosis, abnormal muc...
End-of-life congestive heart failure symptoms require supportive treatment to provide the dying patient with some measure of relief and a decent quality of life during the patient's final days.
Commonly, this happens over time as arteries narrow in the heart, or high blood pressure leaves the heart too weak or too stiff to pump and fill efficiently. Unfortunately, medical science has been unable to reverse the condi...
Common causes of nasal congestion, as indicated by MayoClinic.com, include a cold, flu or exposure to irritants like tobacco smoke. Signs and symptoms of congestion are typically the same despite the underlying cause. Congestio...
Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and College of Medicine goes further to explain that the term "congestive" is used as lung congestion brings about the major symptoms of this heart failure. MayoClinic.com states that the condit...
Approximately 2.5 million women in the United States are affected by the symptoms of congestive heart failure each year, according to medical professionals with the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. Women who develop congestive heart f...
According to the National Institute on Aging, congestive heart failure, also called heart failure, is the number one reason people over the age of 65 are hospitalized. It is a condition whereby the heart cannot pump enough blo...
When this process fails, it is known as heart failure. Several factors can lead to congestive heart failure; these include a history of a heart attack and anything that increases oxygen demand or a blood vessel obstruction. The...
Psychological symptoms often diminish quality of life for heart failure patients. These must be recognized and treated for both the physical and psychological health of the patient. An Oct. 1, 2007, report in "The British Journ...
Cardiac decompensation--more commonly known as congestive heart failure--is a serious condition in which the heart can't pump an efficient amount of blood to the rest of the body, according to the American Heart Association. Me...
The National Heart Lung and Blood Institute estimates that approximately 5.7 million Americans have heart failure, and about 300,000 people die per year from this condition. Congestive cardiac or heart "failure" does not mean ...
The fluid, called ascitic fluid, contains a large amount of the protein albumin, the most abundant protein in the blood. Although small amounts of fluid may not cause symptoms, severe ascites can cause abdominal swelling and di...
Congestive heart failure, also simply called heart failure, is a usually chronic condition where the heart does not pump an adequate amount of blood, resulting in the tissues not receiving enough nutrition or oxygen, according ...
According to the online medical library Merck Manuals, heart failure is a condition in which the heart does not pump a sufficient amount of blood to meet the body's nutrition and oxygen needs. Merck Manuals also reports that he...
A different classification system has been created by the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association. According to this classification, end stage patients are at Stage D, meaning that they have noticeable...
Controlling these conditions can prevent or enable effective treatment of CHF. Additionally, if you have any of these diseases, you have the advantage of knowing that there's a possibility of developing CHF. Knowing the signs a...
Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a type of heart condition in which your heart is incapable of sending enough blood to your body. According to the Mayo Clinic, physical manifestations of CHF include shortness of breath, especi...
When it comes to heart disease, it is also important to check your blood pressure and cholesterol levels regularly, so you can take the necessary steps to avoid complications. In addition, if you have congestive heart failure, ...
You can also be born with this condition. Because your heart can not pump out as much blood as it used to, blood and fluid back up in the lungs and other tissues, causing congestion. When the body cannot get the blood and oxyge...
According to Penn State College of Medicine, the term "congestion" refers to the fact that lung congestion causes many of the symptoms that are associated with heart failure, although there are a variety of other symptoms that ...
And while the damage that occurs is often irreversible, medications can go a long way to ease the signs and symptoms of congestive heart failure.
Digitalis is also used to treat irregular heart rate from atrial fibrillation. When high levels of digitalis develop in the body, the medication can cause side effects that can become life threatening. It is also possible to de...
Sometimes it cannot pump sufficient oxygen-rich blood throughout the body and into its major organs. The resulting shortness of breath or difficulty catching your breath is known as congestive heart failure (CHF). Even though t...
Treating culture-negative endocarditis can be relatively simple once a proper diagnosis is confirmed. A physician will conduct a series of tests to confirm culture-negative endocarditis and will be looking for such symptoms as ...
Common complications include perivalval abscesses (infections around the valves of the heart), infected emboli (blood clots that can travel through the heart and cause cardiac arrest or strokes) and intracardiac fistulae (abnor...
