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Congestive Heart Failure Research Paper

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I. Congestive Heart Failure

Heart failure (HF) is defined as a multifaceted clinical syndrome that can result from any structural or functional cardiac disorder that impairs the ability of the ventricle to fill with or eject blood. In HF, the heart may not provide tissues with adequate blood for metabolic needs, and cardiac-related elevation of pulmonary or systemic venous pressures may result in organ congestion1. In the United States, HF is increasing in incidence with about 5.1 million people suffering from HF and half of people who develop HF die within 5years 2. Over 75% of existing and new cases occurred in individuals over 65 years of age, < 1% in individuals below 60 years, nearly 10% in those over 80 years of age. HF costs the …show more content…

Recommended blood tests include CBC, creatinine, BUN, electrolytes (including Mg and Ca), glucose, albumin, and liver function tests. Thyroid function tests are recommended for patients with atrial fibrillation and for selected, especially elderly, patients. Blood test, serum NP/BNP levels are high in HF; this finding may help when clinical findings are unclear or other diagnoses (eg, COPD) need to be excluded.
Generally, patients with HF have a poor prognosis unless the cause is correctable. Mortality rate at 1 yr from first hospitalization for HF is about 30%. And in chronic HF, mortality depends on severity of symptoms, ventricular dysfunction and can range from 10 to 40%/ …show more content…

They have the ability to self-renew or multiply while maintaining the potential to develop into cells. Such as cells blood, heart, bones, skin, muscles, brain etc. Stem cells have an interesting history that has been somewhat tainted with debate and controversy. In the mid-1800s it was discovered that cells were basically the building blocks of life and that some cells had the ability to produce other cells.
Attempts were made to fertilize mammalian eggs outside of the human body and in the early 1900s, it was discovered that some cells had the ability to generate blood cells. In 1968, the first bone marrow transplant was performed to successfully to treat patient’s severe combined immunodeficiency. There have been many stem cell discoveries since the early 1900’s but the two majors were in 1998 when, Thompson, from the University of Wisconsin, isolated cells from the inner cell mass of early embryos and developed the first embryonic stem cell lines. Then, in 1999 and 2000, scientists discovered that manipulating adult mouse tissues could produce different cell types.

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