Heart failure is a progressive condition when the heart muscle is either too weak to pump enough blood to the rest of the body, or too stiff to fill properly. One in five people over the age of 40 will develop heart failure in their lifetime.
Patients who survive acute cardiac conditions often progress to chronic heart failure. Re-hospitalisation frequencies are high and survival rates low, compared to most cancers. One in four heart failure patients are re-admitted within 30 days after discharge. One in four die within a year. Although it cannot be cured, it can be treated with strategies to improve symptoms.
