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For those who are interested

Please remember I am just a nurse, and am trying to explain some common misconceptions in a very simple manner

Ok - we all know that the heart is a pump - actually, its two pumps that work as one - and this is important for some conditions

The two sides - left and right, each have two chambers - a small atria, and a larger ventricle. The small atria exists to supercharge the heart - again this is important for certain conditions

The heart beats / pumps as a rolling contraction - ie, the squeeze starts in one quadrant the rolls diagonally across the heart (it actually starts in the Sino Atrial Node then follows the Sino atrial pathway - interrupt that and then it stops ..... )

So, the two sides:

The right side of the heart's role is to get deoxygenated blood to the lungs to become oxygenated.
The left side of the hearts job is to deliver oxygenated blood to the whole body

That's it - and it is that simple.

But what can go wrong?

Heart Attack
The proper term for a heart attack is Myocardial Infarction, or MI for short. The heart tissue is Myocardium, and Infarction means death of - sounds dramatic, but what has happened is that a blood vessel around the heart is blocked, by a clot of blood (very simplistic, lots of things can cause this including athertomous plaques - side effect of ageing and cholesterol etc!)
Either way, the area beyond the clot is starved on oxygenated blood and therefore the tissue dies.
Conversely, the older you are, the more likely you are to have less damage - the heart creates and extends its own blood supply as you grow older - so one blockage in an older person is likely to effect less heart tissue - often this can happen with no signs or symptoms - sometimes called a Silent MI

Congestive Cardiac Failure
Ofdten referred to as CCF - to squeeze blood into the lungs requires a degree of force - it the lungs are congested, filled with fluid, etc then the heart (right sided) has to work harder to accomplish the same result.

The actual cause of this can vary - underlying pulmonary conditions being one but high blood pressure can also cause this - in simple terms excess fluid pools in the lungs
In this case the right side of the heart is working to hard, and fails (is often poor muscle tone of the heart tissue - once lost it never recovers)

Cardiac failure
Similar to CCF but is the peripheral resistance leads to an accumulation of fluid in the body
Correct term is Left Ventricular Failure - LVF
Again, like CCF once damaged, the heart tissue cannot recover
People with LVF often have peripheral oedema - fluid - swollen ankles and gaiers being a prime example
Generally treated with diuretics - water tablets


Atrial Fibrilation
I said about the atria a the smaller upper chambers of the heart and that they are super chargers
Basically the ventricles fill with blood, but before they squeeze out the blood - to the lungs or body, the atria squeeze in more blood.
If the electrical signal is disrupted, then the atria do not squeeze properly - that part of the heart flutters. This means the effect of each pulse is reduced, so efficiency is reduced. This can be quite serious.
It's often treated with digoxin - slows, steady a and strengthens the pulse rate to ensure peak efficiency.
A pacemaker can also be used - these force the electrical firing of the heart in a controlled way - most are set to on demand - ie, if the pulse is abnormal the pacemaker forces an electrical signal

Another drug often used is warfarin - this thins the blood to increase efficiency - this needs constant monitoring!

That's the main cardiac problems - there are a lot more, but they tend to be specific, and quite advanced to explain

If anyone has questions, please ask - I will do my best to explain

The human body is quite amazing. It's surprising how few of us (people in general) are actually interested in how it works.

squadron Nero wrote: The human body is quite amazing. It's surprising how few of us (people in general) are actually interested in how it works.

I hear there is a good documentary about it on Heart 101 FM.

I was reading a review but part 1 ended at tea time.

It seemed very interesting

Thank you for the simplified explanations which I am not qualified to give obviously, but you made it an interesting read as well

My cardiologist refers to my condition of cardiac failure as Cardiac Myopothy or heart failure (which I guess is the same thing) of which apparently there are several types, and whilst the damage is for life, the medication I am currently on will help strengthen the heart to a degreee, and the beta blockers keep the heart rate under control as I was up to 220 beats per minutes at rest when I was admitted.

I can relate to the fluid on the lungs and swollen feet and ankles. The water tablets realy do work. I lost 16kg of fluid whilst in Hospital, and since I was alowed home last Monday I have lost a further 4kg so 20 kg of fluid in total (about 40lb) which probably explains why I was and felt so poorly

Specialist Cardiac Care Nurse is visiting on Monday, Blood test on Tuesday to make sure my Liver and Kidneys are still OK, and I actually manged a 30 minute walk today without running out of puff

Biggest dissapointment has been my GP who does not have a clue and despite having all my Hospital records in front of her when I had my appointment on Tuesday, had very little understanding about Cardiac Myopothy, the symptoms or the treatment That is a worry.

The gp may have been circumspect....


Guess the easiest to understand analogy is an elastic band - you pull it and it goes back to its normal shape. Over stretch it and it doesn't - it gets "floppy"

So your heart - which is actually pretty much pure muscle has lost its tone - therefore it can never return to peak, or full function

To put the raised pulse >220 into context, the average adult male pulse at rest is 72.... So your heart was having to work three times as hard as it should to to maintain the body.... That's an awful lot of load!

Aladinsaneuk wrote:
To put the raised pulse >220 into context, the average adult male pulse at rest is 72.... So your heart was having to work three times as hard as it should to to maintain the body.... That's an awful lot of load!

That was what they told me that it was having to work 3 times harder, although to be fair they came as pulpitations, but since going onto the beta blockers my resting heart beat is between 60 and 70

Learn something new everyday. Thanks, Pete.

Thanks will

I cut my teeth on an acute medical ward, and cardiac problems were common - and I used to teach student nurses

Hanna is far more au fait with it now - she is, I am proud to say, a better clinical nurse than me