Epidemiology and prognosis of heart failure.

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a major cause of mortality and morbidity, and has a prognosis similar to that of several malignancies. There are increasing trends in both prevalence and incidence rates of CHF which points towards CHF becoming a major community health problem. Early detection of CHF is dependent upon criteria to define the initial stages of a condition which progresses slowly over many years. In western countries the dominant causes of CHF are hypertension and coronary heart disease, which account for more than 75% of the cases. Other precursors are diabetes and rheumatic heart disease. Independent risk factors for CHF are hypertension, smoking, obesity, and psychological stress. Early detection of CHF through identification of early symptoms such as dyspnea on exertion, treatment of known heart diseases, and treatment of risk factors may prevent its progress. Epidemiological data indicate that primary preventive efforts should be directed against hypertension, smoking and obesity. A multiple risk factor interventional approach seems to yield the best result since these risk factors act synergistically.