Left Sided and Right Sided Heart Failure Their Pathophysiology and Possible Treatment

Apart from medications, lifestyle changes have been termed effective as part of management strategies and such include reducing stress, exercising, limiting dietary sodium and weight management. There are four types of heart failures; systolic, diastolic also referred to as HF with preserved ejection fraction, left and right-sided HF. In systolic heart failure, the left ventricle is impaired hence a pumping problem is exhibited as it cannot contract vigorously as expected. Diastolic indicates the existence of a filling problem as the left ventricle is unable to relax thus cannot fill fully (Marti et al, 2013). Left-sided heart failure is caused by the presence of fluid in one’s lungs resulting to shortness of breath. Diastolic left HF is triggered when a person’s left ventricle is unable to sufficiently fill the chambers on the lower left of the heart due to its growing thick or rigid hence reduced amount of blood pumped out to the body (McMurray, 2012).

The repeated occurrence of such condition would result in blood build up in the left atrium and then to the lungs, resulting in congestion of fluid and symptoms of HF. Symptoms of left-sided heart failure include chronic coughing, difficulty concentrating, and wheezing, fluid retention leading to swelling of the lower limbs amongst many others. The pathophysiology of right-sided heart failure is that it is attributed to the occurrence of left-sided heart failure, normally after the left ventricle has completely stiffened or weakened, and unable to supply blood to the general body circulation. As a result, the fluids are then pushed back through the lungs, making the right side of the heart to be weak hence right-sided heart failure (Marti, 2013). The group of patients that benefit much from ACE drugs are those with elevated blood pressure and myocardial infarction, however, the strength of ACE drugs differs with starting dosages, and recommendations are that adjustment of dosage should be in line with clinical response.

The side effects of ACE inhibitors are that they could lead to reduced blood pressure, referred to as hypotension and contribute to cough, hyperkalemia, headache, dizziness, nausea, and fatigue. ACE inhibitors could also cause renal dysfunction, the group of drugs is known to increase pain related to inflammation (Sidorenkov, 2014). The drug is contraindicated in pregnant women due to its effect on the developing fetus. Hepatotoxicity is also mentioned as one of the adverse effects of ACE drugs. Patients who benefit from diuretics are those with heart failure and have developed swellings due to fluid buildup (Roush et al. The major used diuretics are thiazide diuretics, loop diuretics and potassium-sparing diuretics making them diuretic of choice. The side effects include stomach aches, nausea, and sensitivity of the skin to sunlight and loss of appetite.