Throughout the month of September the Heart and Stroke Foundation of South Africa (HSFSA) is placing the spotlight on heart health, creating awareness heart disease and its risks.
Heart Awareness Month is one of the foundation’s key campaign events. It aims to make a significant impact on heart disease awareness and, through the campaign strategy, also aims to reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD).
Sunday 29 September is World Heart Day (WHD), which the HSFSA’s Heart Awareness Month campaign culminates in. The foundation will align with the World Heart Federation on the day. By embracing this global theme the HSFSA underscores the need for sustained collaboration and collective action to achieve lasting impact.
Over a four-week period each week will have an exclusive but related theme on heart failure. The themes are as follows: Week 1 – What is heart failure?; Week 2 – The causes of heart failure; Week 3 – Management of heart failure and living with heart failure; and Week 4 – Diabetes type 2 and other risk factors for heart failure.
This week, the HSFSA delves into the second theme . . .
The causes of heart failure
When considering the different types of heart failure (HF) the foundation notes that HF may be caused by a weakened, damaged or stiffened heart.
If the heart is damaged or weakened the heart chambers may stretch and get bigger, which means that the heart can’t pump the blood out of the heart at the rate it is supposed to. If the main pumping chambers of the heart are stiff or rigid they can’t fill with enough blood between beats.
The heart is vulnerable to many factors that may lead to the heart muscle being damaged, weakened or rigid. These risk factors include advancing age, sex, inherited cardiomyopathies, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, obesity, certain infections, consumption of alcohol, drugs or tobacco products and selected chemotherapy medicines.
- Coronary artery disease and heart attack: Coronary artery disease is the most common cause of heart failure due to atherosclerosis taking place in the arteries supplying the heart muscle. This reduces blood flow and can lead to heart attack, which in turn damages the heart tissue.
- Hypertension/high blood pressure: Hypertension causes the heart to work harder to pump blood throughout the body. Over time, the extra work can make the heart muscle too rigid or too weak to properly pump blood.
- Heart-valve disease: The valves of the heart ensure the blood flows in one direction. Heart-valve disease or damage may cause the heart to work harder to pump the blood. This may weaken the heart over time. Treating some heart-valve conditions may reverse heart failure or improve heart function.
- Myocarditis: Myocarditis is most commonly caused by a virus, which is characterised by inflammation of the heart muscle, and can lead to left-sided heart failure.
- Congenital heart disorders: The heart, chambers or valves that haven’t formed properly may cause other parts of the heart to work harder to pump blood.
- Arrhythmias: Irregular heart rhythms may cause the heart to beat too fast, slow or inconsistently, creating extra work for the heart.
- Other diseases or causes: Some long-term diseases like diabetes, thyroid disorders, or chemical imbalances may contribute to chronic heart failure.
Some acute conditions are: allergic reactions, any illness that affects the whole body, blood clots in the lungs, severe infections and use of certain medicines. It is also important to note that the causes of HF differ across countries. In tropical countries for example, parasites can lodge in the heart leading to HF.
