Heart fact: Do you know one of the most common reasons that older people end up in the hospital?

It’s heart failure, a condition in which the person’s heart loses some of its ability to pump blood throughout the body. As a result, not enough oxygen is able to reach the body’s cells.

Though the name may sound alarming – like it’s happening immediately – heart failure is typically something that the person has been managing for a while.

In fact, it’s sometimes called “the silent epidemic” because it develops slowly and a person may go along for years without having any symptoms.

However, heart failure tends to get progressively worse as a person ages. That’s because typically, the person’s heart has to work hard over time to deal with the problem. The heart tries to make up for its own weakening by getting larger and forcing itself to pump faster to move more blood through the body.

What is a heart arrhythmia?

 Did you think about your heartbeat today?

If you’re like most Americans, you probably didn’t give it much thought, even though your heart was beating constantly, anywhere from 60 to 100 beats a minute.

Normally, the heart’s electrical system causes the heart muscle to contract in a regular, controlled pattern. However, a problem anywhere along the electrical pathway causes a disturbance in the heart rhythm. This could lead to an irregular heart rhythm or a heart rate that’s too fast or too slow.