Chronic Heart Failure (CHF)

CHF is a debilitating serious condition in which the heart is unable to pump enough blood to meet the body metabolic needs. Patients suffering from heart failure experience shortness of breath, extreme exhaustion, and accumulation of liquid in the body. Chronic Heart Failure can be caused by heart attacks (ischemic origin) or by numerous other causes such as severe hypertension, valvular diseases, diabetes, metabolic or toxic diseases. All available therapies for chronic heart failure aim at slowing down the disease progression, but with the exception of heart transplant, existing drugs or devices do not cure Chronic Heart Failure.  More information on the disease is available on the “Study Group on Heart Failure Awareness and Perception in Europe” (SHAPE, http://www.heartfailure-europe.com/) and on the “Heart Failure Online” (http://www.heartfailure.org/) web sites.