Congestive heart failure claims around 260,000 lives each year. In the year 1995 alone, Medicare paid out $3.4 billion towards heart failure. This condition mostly affects the elderly, as most of the 5 million patients with heart failure in the US are over 65 years old. The numbers are expected to double in future, with close to 550,000 patients being diagnosed every year.

In medical terms, congestive heart failure is usually categorized as diastolic or systolic heart failure. This condition occurs when the heart fails to pump blood at the desired pace, and the process starts losing its power gradually.  When the heart fails to pump blood as efficiently as it ought to, the movement of blood through the blood vessels begins to back up. This intensifies the pressure exerted in the blood vessels and in turn the blood vessels start emptying out their fluids into body tissues. When death happens due to systolic heart failure, it means that the heart’s pumping action had significantly deteriorated. The clinical measurement for this is called the ejection fraction, and weakened ejection fraction leads to systolic heart failure.

The other type of congestive heart failure is known as diastolic heart failure. This condition is seen more often in women who suffer from high blood pressure, as well as in older people above the age of 75. This condition takes place when the heart can still pump blood but is stiff, and does not let blood to fill it properly, which results in backup being stored in the lungs.

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