Your heart has a big job. It has to circulate blood throughout your body. Conditions like coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and a myriad of other diseases place extra stress on your heart and demand a lot from your body. After a while, these conditions weaken your heart so that it doesn’t efficiently pump blood anymore. This is congestive heart failure – a long-term weakening of the heart that leads to a buildup of fluid in the lungs and body tissues – and it’s not uncommon. The American Heart Association estimates that 5.3 million Americans suffer from congestive heart failure.
