Search Media Items

The most common signs and symptoms of heart failure are shortness of breath, fatigue, and swelling in the ankles, feet, legs, abdomen, and veins in the neck.

Heart failure is more common in people age 65 or older, blacks, people who are overweight, and people who have had a heart attack. Children who have congenital heart defects also can develop heart failure.

Conditions that damage or overwork the heart muscle can cause the heart to weaken, including coronary heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, other heart conditions, and other factors.

Heart failure is a condition in which the heart can't pump enough blood to meet the body's needs because it can't fill with enough blood and/or can't pump blood to the rest of the body with enough force.

Certain risk factors make it more likely that you'll develop coronary heart disease and have a heart attack. Risk factors you can control include smoking, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, overweight and obesity, unhealthy diet, lack of physical activity, and high blood sugar due to insulin resistance or diabetes. Risk factors you can’t control include age, family history of early heart disease, and preeclampsia.

A heart attack happens when the flow of oxygen-rich blood to a section of heart muscle suddenly becomes blocked and the heart can’t get oxygen. If you think you or someone else may be having heart attack symptoms or a heart attack, call 9–1–1 for emergency medical care.

Understanding the DASH eating plan will help you start and follow this plan for life.

Three NHLBI-funded trials showed the health benefits of the DASH diet, such as lowering high blood pressure and LDL cholesterol in the blood, and shaped the final DASH eating plan recommendations.

DASH is a flexible and balanced eating plan that helps create a heart-healthy eating style for life.

If you have carotid artery disease, you can take steps to manage the condition, reduce risk factors, and prevent complications by making lifestyle changes, following your treatment plan, and getting ongoing care. Know the stroke warning signs and call 9–1–1 for emergency help if you think you are having a stroke.