Early Heart Failure

Heart failure is a condition where your heart is essentially no longer able to accommodate your body's need for blood. Often referred to as congestive heart failure, a weakening or stiffening within the muscles of your heart affects its overall function, causing a reduction in blood flow that can deprive the body of oxygen and nutrients. Though this condition usually develops over a prolonged period of time, it can happen to you at almost any age.

Early Heart Failure

• When you suffer from early heart failure, it generally means that you're experiencing this condition earlier than "normal." The median age for heart failure is right around 65. This is largely due to the contributing factors of the condition, since disorders like high blood pressure, coronary artery disease and atherosclerosis typically cause the heart to fail. But these conditions develop over a course of years, and it takes time for any one of them to damage the heart to the point of failure, so you don't usually see heart failure in someone until they reach a more advanced age.

Contributing Factors

• According to the New England Journal of Medicine, race is the most predominant factor in the development of early heart failure. Actually, the rate in which young African Americans, between the ages of 20 and 39, suffer from heart failure is similar to that of Caucasians between the ages of 40 and 59. This is largely due to the early onset of high blood pressure and a greater frequency of obesity (increasing the risk of heart disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes, all of which can contribute to heart failure) in this demographic. And since hypertension is still considered a problem for people of an advanced age, youth, regardless of race, rarely have their blood pressure checked, increasing the likelihood of early heart failure, since treatment isn't put into place.

Symptoms

• Unfortunately, most people in their 20s and 30s who are suffering from high blood pressure never know it, since there are no real warning signs of this hypertensive state. It isn't until early heart failure actually occurs that you develop symptoms of the condition. And these symptoms are often the same as in those people of an advanced age. One of the more common is a shortness of breath, due to the deprivation of oxygen associated with the disorder. But, you may also suffer from irregular or uneven heartbeats, rapid heartbeats, unexplained weakness, unusual exhaustion or fatigue and a swelling within the feet, ankles, legs or abdomen. It's also not that uncommon to undergo some nausea, upset stomach or a loss in appetite at the onset of early heart failure. Some people, especially in acute cases of the condition, experience chest pain.

Prevention/Solution

• As with almost any disease or disorder that can affect your body, the best method of treatment is prevention. And since high blood pressure and obesity are the most common culprits of early heart failure, you'll want to reduce your chances of developing these issues. This would include a healthy, well-balanced diet that is low in fat and sodium as well as rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Daily exercise is also important in combating these health problems, so incorporate physical activities like walking, biking, swimming and competitive sports into your day to day life. Once you've integrated both diet and exercise into your lifestyle, you'll usually experience a loss in weight.

Treatment

• If you're experiencing early heart failure, treatment usually involves correcting the cause of the condition, so it will vary from person to person. However, one of the more common uses prescription medications, such as ACE inhibitors, beta blockers, diuretics and other heart-related drugs. What these types of medications serve to do is help dilate your blood vessels, slow the rhythm of the heart, reduce blood pressure or eliminate excess fluid in your system that may be causing the early heart failure. From there, a surgical procedure may be necessary to fix any damage within the muscles, chambers or valves of your heart as well as place a medical device to better ensure the rhythm of the heart remains normal.