Heart Failure

Heart failure can be caused by any problem that damages your heart or affects how well it works.

Problems that damage the heart muscle

• High blood pressure
• Heart attack
• Reference Coronary artery disease Opens New Window
• Diabetes that isn't controlled
• Alcohol, illegal drugs (such as cocaine), and some prescription medicines (such as those for chemotherapy)
• Heart problems you've had from birth (congenital heart disease)
• Infection or inflammation of the heart muscle (such as myocarditis)

Things that damage the heart's valves

• Valve problems you've had since birth
• Infection of a heart valve (endocarditis)
• Aging
• Rheumatic fever

Problems with the heart's electrical system

• Fast, slow, or irregular heart rhythms, including Reference atrial fibrillation Opens New Window
• Electrical signals that don't flow as they should from the upper to the lower part of the heart (heart block)

Other problems

• Disease of the sac around the heart (pericarditis)
• Postpartum heart failure. This rare problem can happen late in a woman's pregnancy or within the first 5 months after delivery.
• Severe Reference anemia Opens New Window
• Reference Hyperthyroidism Opens New Window

Certain Reference triggers, such as too much sodium or not taking medicines the right way, may suddenly make heart failure worse. This can sometimes cause deadly problems such as Reference pulmonary edema Opens New Window or Reference cardiogenic shock Opens New Window.

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