Heart failure is when your heart doesn’t pump blood around your body as well as it should. This can make it difficult for your body to get as much blood and oxygen as it needs. This then causes the symptoms of heart failure, such as having trouble breathing.

Symptoms
Some of the signs of heart failure include:
Coughing when you’re resting, especially when lying down
Dizziness or fainting
Fatigue
Feeling like your stomach is full or bloated
Frequent need to urinate, especially at night
Irregular heartbeats
Nausea or loss of appetite
Shortness of breath
Swelling in your ankles, feet, legs, abdomen and the veins in your neck
Weight gain due to fluid retention

Prevention
The key to preventing heart failure is to reduce your risk factors. You can control or eliminate many of the risk factors for heart disease - high blood pressure and coronary artery disease, for example - by making lifestyle changes along with the help of any needed medications.

Lifestyle changes you can make to help prevent heart failure include:
Not smoking
Controlling certain conditions, such as high blood pressure and diabetes
Staying physically active
Eating healthy foods
Maintaining a healthy weight
Reducing and managing stress