Heart Failure & Kidney Disease

According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, approximately 5 million individuals in the U.S. have heart disease. Adults and children can suffer from heart failure. Heart failure can be prevented with losing weight, eating healthfully, not smoking and exercising more. In individuals with kidney disease, heart disease is a major cause of death. According to the National Kidney Foundation, 26 million people have kidney disease.

Heart Failure

• Heart failure is a condition where the heart can't pump blood correctly. For instance, the heart either can't pump blood with enough force to circulate the blood throughout the body or it can't fill up with a normal amount of blood. Individuals can have both problems. Heart failure occurs slowly and over time.

  Heart failure doesn't mean that the heart stops working; instead it means that the heart becomes weaker. When the the left side of the heart fails, the heart can't pump enough oxygen-rich blood through the entire body. Left-side heart failure causes the right side of heart to work harder. Thus, failure on the left side can eventually cause right-side heart failure. The heart can no longer pump blood to the lungs efficiently, so the blood can't pick up the needed oxygen.

Symptoms

• Symptoms associated with heart failure are fatigue and swelling in the feet, ankles, abdomen or legs. Some individuals can have swelling in the veins of the neck and can suffer from trouble breathing. Over time, these symptoms, which are the result of fluid accumulating in the body, can become worse as the heart becomes weaker, causing frequent urination and weight gain. In addition, if you have a cough, it can become worse when you're lying down or at night because there is too much fluid in the lungs.

Kidney Disease

• With kidney disease, the kidneys' functioning is damaged. Chronic kidney disease occurs over time. As it worsens, individuals urinate less frequently. The kidneys' blood-filtering units, called nephrons, stop working properly, and waste can build in the blood and cause anemia, high blood pressure and nerve damage. Kidney disease can be caused by diabetes or high blood pressure or it can be inherited. If you are diabetic, get tested for kidney disease. Also, manage your diabetes, blood pressure and heart disease to lower your risk of kidney disease.

Symptoms

• It is possible to miss symptoms of kidney disease because the early signs are subtle. However, as the disease progresses, individuals may urinate more frequently at night, have difficulty urinating or urinate less often. The urine can be a dark color, foamy or bubbly. Individuals can experience swelling in the feet, face, ankles, legs and hands, fatigue and itching. Other signs can include vomiting, a metallic taste in the mouth, leg pain, dizziness, trouble concentrating and feeling cold.

Connections

• Heart disease can damage your kidneys. If you already have kidney disease, heart failure can make it worse. This occurs because the fluid builds up in the blood vessels throughout the body, including the kidneys. Thus, if you have heart disease, get tested for kidney disease. If you have kidney disease, get tested for heart disease. Individuals with kidney disease may not have symptoms of heart disease until the condition has progressed significantly.