Heart failure occurs when the body’s demands for energy are not supplied properly because of a weakness in the heart itself. Heart failure from damage to the heart muscle is common and, at present, 0.3% of the most developed countries of EU population are affected each year.
However, it becomes more of a problem with increasing age, as it affects 8% of those over 65 years of age. Put another way, many thousands of people develop heart failure each year, and this represents 5% of acute emergency admissions to hospital. Because heart failure is common in elderly people, one of the reasons why we are seeing more cases of heart failure is the fact that people are living longer.
In total up to 2% of the population actually suffers – roughly 1 million people in those countries. Each year 120 000 people in that countries are admitted to hospital with heart failure and stay on average 11 days. Heart failure costs the NHS over 300 million euros per year in each of those countries.
Heart failure, if not treated, can significantly shorten life and reduce its quality but we now have means of helping people to live longer and feel better.
