[Causes of heart failure].

pump. Each heartbeat squeezes about 2.4 ounces of blood into the circulatory system. At an average rate of 72 beats per minute, 1.3 gallons of blood are pumped every 60 seconds. In a day, that’s 1,900 gallons, almost 700,000 gallons each year. The average 70-year-old heart has pumped over 48 million gallons during its lifetime—enough to fill 68 Olympic-sized swimming pools. When the heart fails to pump as well as it should, fluid backs up and causes congestive heart failure (CHF), which is often the end stage of cardiac disease. Almost five million Americans have CHF and over 400,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. If you’re over 40, there’s a one in five chance that you’ll develop CHF before you die. If you’ve got high blood pressure, your risk will double. If you’ve had a myocardial infarction, your risk for CHF goes up 500%. CHF is the most common primary or secondary diagnosis for all people over 65 who are admitted to the hospital. A third of people discharged from the hospital with CHF are dead within the year and less than 25% are still alive six years after their diagnosis. Over $23 billion is spent each year on the diagnosis and treatment of CHF in America. Data show that 30%–40% of people who are discharged from the hospital with CHF will be readmitted within the next six months. However, research indicates that over 40% of these readmissions could have been prevented. In 9 out of 10 cases of relapse, the precipitating factors can be identified. The main factors include lack of adherence to physicians’ recommendations, including medication use, uncontrolled hypertension, cardiac arrhythmias, iatrogenic (healthcareprovider caused) and pulmonary infections. Emotional factors such as high stress precede the hospitalization of 49% of people with CHF.