What is heart failure?

Your heart pumps blood to carry oxygen and nutrients to the rest of your body. Heart failure is when your heart doesn’t pump blood as well as it should. It doesn’t mean your heart has stopped (that's called cardiac arrest).


If you have heart failure, your heart pumps less blood

That causes fluid to back up in your lungs and other body part

Extra fluid in your lungs makes it hard to breathe

Extra fluid in your legs makes them swell

If your kidneys don’t get enough blood, they make less urine so the body has more fluid

That extra fluid makes your heart work even harder

Then, your heart failure can get even worse


The extra fluid in your body is called “congestion.” That’s why heart failure is sometimes called “congestive heart failure.”