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Heart failure

What is heart failure?

Heart failure does not mean the heart has stopped working, but the heart's pumping power has become weakened.


Around 900,000 people in the UK have heart failure.

What causes heart failure?


  • Coronary artery disease. Coronary artery disease (CAD), a disease of the arteries that supply blood and oxygen to the heart, causes decreased blood flow to the heart muscle. If the arteries become blocked or severely narrowed, the heart becomes starved of oxygen and nutrients.
  • Cardiomyopathy. Damage to the heart muscle from causes other than artery or blood flow problems, such as from infections or alcohol or drug use. Cardiomyopathy is often inherited and runs in families.

What are the symptoms of heart failure?

You may not have any symptoms of heart failure, or the symptoms may be mild to severe. Symptoms can be constant or come and go. The symptoms can include:

  • Shortness of breath. Fluid back-up in the lungs can cause shortness of breath with exercise or difficulty breathing at rest or when lying flat in bed. Lung congestion can also cause a dry, hacking cough or wheezing.
  • Fluid and water retention ( oedema). Less blood to your kidneys causes fluid and water retention, resulting in swollen ankles, legs, abdomen (called oedema) and weight gain. Symptoms may cause an increased need to urinate during the night. Bloating in your stomach may cause a loss of appetite or nausea.
  • Dizziness, fatigue and weakness. Less blood to your major organs and muscles makes you feel tired and weak. Less blood to the brain can cause dizziness or confusion.
  • Rapid or irregular heartbeats. The heart beats faster to pump enough blood to the body. This can cause a fast or irregular heartbeat.

If you have heart failure, you may have one or all of these symptoms or none of them. In addition, your symptoms may not be related to how weak your heart is; you may have many symptoms but your heart function may be only mildly weakened. Or you may have a more severely damaged heart but have no symptoms.

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