Nighttime heart failure: The incidence of heart failure has increased significantly in the last few years. Changing lifestyle, stress and diet are triggering this a lot. The biggest problem in this is regarding chronic heart failure. It develops and progresses slowly in the body compared to a sudden heart attack. It gets ignored until it becomes serious. Its most dangerous thing is that the heart faces more problems at night, when the body is in a relaxed state and the heart works differently than during the day. Sometimes this condition can also be fatal. Let us tell you how its initial symptoms can be identified and what measures can be taken to prevent it.

heart failure during sleep

When a person lies down to sleep at night, the fluid in the body comes from the legs towards the chest. What happens because of this is that the pressure on the lungs and heart increases. This is more dangerous for patients with heart failure, because their heart is already weak, due to which they have difficulty in breathing. This is called paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea, that is, gasping after suddenly waking up during sleep. The condition of many people is even worse, they suffer from orthopnea, that is, they face difficulty in breathing while lying straight.

Why is it affected only during sleep?

Now the question arises that why does it have such an effect even during sleep? There are many reasons behind this. Like slow heartbeat, heart beat slows down during sleep. This is dangerous for those with a weak heart because the heart is not able to pump blood properly. Along with this, CHF patients have frequent urination at night, due to which sleep is disrupted. Sometimes lack of oxygen also causes this.

Initial symptoms appearing at night

If we talk about what are its initial symptoms at night, these include shortness of breath while lying straight, to avoid this one needs many pillows to breathe comfortably. Second, getting up several times during the night to go to the bathroom. Third, difficulty in breathing during sleep. Fourth, heartbeat not being under control and feeling of heaviness on the chest. The fifth symptom is feeling tired even after getting complete sleep. If you notice any such problem, you should contact a doctor. Research shows that men before the age of 45 are at greater risk of heart failure. But after 50 years, both men and women remain at equal risk. Hormonal changes after menopause in women increase the risk of heart disease.

Stages of heart failure and effect of night

Four stages of heart failure are visible at night. In the first stage, there are mild symptoms, such as slight shortness of breath at night or problem of excessive urination. In the second stage, symptoms like shortness of breath while lying straight, taking support of many pillows or getting up while coughing are seen. These symptoms also occur in the third stage and in the fourth stage the patient is unable to sleep lying down at all and has heart problems repeatedly at night. In this situation, hospital treatment or even heart transplant may be required. To avoid this, you can adopt some rules, such as use more pillows or adjustable bed, do not drink too much water before sleeping so that you do not have to urinate frequently and eat less salt, this will reduce water retention in the body and reduce the pressure on the heart.

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Disclaimer: This information is based on research studies and expert opinion. Do not consider this as a substitute for medical advice. Before adopting any new activity or exercise, please consult your doctor or relevant specialist.

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