When congestive heart failure strikes, the effects will be felt all over the body. Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a condition in which the heart becomes unable to pump enough blood - this will affect the functioning of other organs in the body.

Although the heart keeps working, it is not operating as efficiently as it should - thus those with congestive heart failure find that they easily become tired and short of breath. Other symptoms include:

Swelling (edema) as blood returning to the heart through the veins backs up - typically this will cause swelling in the legs and ankles
Fluid in the lungs
Kidney problems - the kidneys become unable to dispose of sodium and water

This condition can result from a number of causes, including:

Narrowing of the arteries that supply blood to the heart
Previous heart attack - the scar tissue interferes with the heart's normal functioning
Hypertension - high blood pressure
Heart valve disease (e.g. from rheumatic fever)
Cardiomyopathy (disease of the heart muscle)
Congenital heart defects
Infection of the heart

There is a range of different treatments including:

Rest
Improve diet
Modified daily activities
Medications, including drugs such as ACE (angiotensin-converting enzyme) inhibitors, beta blockers, digitalis, diuretics, and vasodilators