What causes heart failure?

All of us lose some blood-pumping ability in our hearts as we age, but heart failure results from the added stress of health conditions that either damage the heart or make it work too hard.
All of the lifestyle factors that increase your risk of heart attack and stroke – smoking, being overweight, eating foods high in fat and cholesterol and physical inactivity – can also contribute to heart failure. Below are some of the conditions that lead to heart failure;

• Coronary artery disease - This happens when fatty deposits and cholesterol build up in your heart's arteries. This will prevent the blood from flowing through the vessels and less blood will enter the heart. This will result in either a chest pain ( Angina ) or a heart attack. Coronary artery disease can also contribute to high blood pressure which overtime can lead to heart failure.


• Diabetes - Diabetes increases the risk for developing heart failure. diabetes tend to develop hypertension and atherosclerosis from elevated lipid levels in the blood — both of which have been linked to heart failure.


• Abnormal heart valves - Heart valve problems can result from disease, infection (endocarditis) or a defect present at birth. When the valves don't open or close completely during each heartbeat, the heart muscle has to pump harder to keep the blood moving. If the workload becomes too great, heart failure results.

References:

http://http//www.heartfailure.org/eng_site/hf_causes.asp
http://http//www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=324

Glossary:
Endocarditis- an inflammation of the inner layer of the heart, the endocardium. It usually involves the heart valves (native or prosthetic valves).

Angina- chest pain due to ischemia (a lack of blood and hence oxygen supply) of the heart muscle.

Atherosclerosis- is the condition in which an artery wall thickens as the result of a build-up of fatty materials such as cholesterol.