The Differences Between Systolic and Diastolic Heart Failure refer to two different aspects of your heart’s ability to pump blood through your body. Although systolic and diastolic are usually used in reference to the left ventricle of the heart, they also refer to other types of heart failure that affect the right side of the heart. Systolic refers to the maximum contraction force of your heart, while diastolic refers to its resting state between beats.
What is Heart Failure? Differences Between Systolic and Diastolic Heart Failure
Heart failure can be caused by high blood pressure or a disease that has either damaged the heart or made it larger than usual. In this situation, the enlarged heart cannot pump as much blood as it needs to. The most common type of heart failure is called systolic heart failure. The heart becomes weaker with each beat and makes less than half the amount of blood it should be pumping out per beat. This can lead to fluid retention in your body and make you feel tired, dizzy, edgy, or lightheaded because of a drop in blood pressure. Diastolic heart failure is more common in older people.
What is Systolic Heart Failure?
Systolic heart failure is the most common type of heart failure. With systolic heart failure, the muscle of the left ventricle of the heart (the main pumping chamber) becomes weak so that it can’t pump blood at a high enough pressure to push blood out to all parts of the body. Low blood pressure often results. If a person with systolic heart failure is placed in an upright position, fluid may pool in his or her feet, legs, and stomach because gravity has prevented adequate circulation. To keep up with its job as our body’s pump, the left ventricle puts extra strain on itself by making every beat extra strong but this eventually wears out the damaged muscle tissue even more quickly.
What is Diastolic Heart Failure?
A patient is diagnosed with systolic heart failure when the left ventricle of the heart muscle is struggling to pump enough blood out of the chamber. When this happens, the pressure from the blood returning to the rest of your body causes fluids to accumulate in your tissues, which leads to other problems like dizziness, difficulty breathing, or confusion. For example, if you have COPD and a coughing attack for prolonged periods of time or if you’re going into cardiac arrest. A patient is diagnosed with diastolic heart failure when there isn’t enough blood being pumped out through both chambers and valves due to diminished contractions of the cardiac muscle in one or both sides of the heart. This leaves parts of your body not getting enough oxygen-rich blood.
How to Manage High Blood Pressure
High blood pressure, or hypertension, is diagnosed when your systolic blood pressure is higher than 140 mm Hg, or your diastolic blood pressure is higher than 90 mm Hg. High blood pressure doesn’t just increase the risk of heart attack; it also increases the risk of stroke. It can be difficult to tell if you have high blood pressure because there are no symptoms other than elevated blood pressure readings. Some people experience a sudden spike in their levels when they lift heavy objects. In others, it might only become apparent during a routine medical checkup. The good news is that medications are available to help lower high blood pressure if caught early enough.
How to Manage Diabetes and Hypertension
Both diabetes and hypertension are common diseases in the developed world. This can be due to an unhealthy lifestyle that often includes a sedentary job, lack of physical activity, or high consumption of processed food. The prevalence of these conditions has been increasing in recent years. People with these conditions have a higher risk of heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, neuropathy, arthritis, peripheral vascular disease, blindness, and even dementia. Two diseases tend to go hand in hand because they share common risk factors such as obesity or inactivity.
People who suffer from both high blood pressure (hypertension), as well as elevated sugar levels (diabetes), have a nearly three times higher risk for coronary artery disease than people without either condition.
Symptoms of Cardiovascular Disease
Cardiovascular disease is any disorder affecting the heart or blood vessels. It can include a range of symptoms but typically starts with angina (chest pain) that worsens during exercise. Severe cases can lead to heart failure, an irregular heartbeat, congestive heart failure, damage to the heart muscle, and sudden cardiac arrest. Symptoms are different for those suffering from systolic vs diastolic heart failure:
A person with systolic HF may experience severe shortness of breath even at rest, feel fatigued or dizzy upon exertion, and be exhausted most of the time despite doing little in their day-to-day life. They often need help breathing as they grow older and develop kidney problems as well as high blood pressure.
Conclusion:
Most individuals who arrive with heart failure symptoms and signs have diastolic heart failure, which affects 40%–50% of patients. A cardiac neurohormone called brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) is released by the ventricular myocytes in response to elevated end-diastolic pressure or volume. According to mounting data,BNP concentrations are higher in heart failure, according to mounting data, and they play a crucial role in the differential diagnosis of dyspnea. Even while BNP concentrations are higher in diastolic heart failure than in systolic heart failure, they are frequently lower in the former. The level of diastolic dysfunction is connected with the concentration of BNP, which is mildly to moderately raised in patients who show signs of poor relaxation and greatest in patients who have a restricted filling pattern. BNP values may be within acceptable limits in asymptomatic patients with moderate diastolic dysfunction.
The diagnostic use of BNP in diastolic heart failure is covered in this review.
