Do people with congestive heart failure have hypertension or hypotension? -

I know that hypertension can cause congestive heart failure. However, once a person has congestive heart failure, do they have hypotension or hypertension? My husband contends hypotension, but I think hypertension. Who s right?

Well normally people with congestive heart failure is associated with hypertension, because the heart muscle not being able to pump blood needed it has to come from somewhere which causes the body to react and try to supply blood much harder than normal which can cause high blood pressure levels.

Arterial blood pressure falls due to inefficiency in pumping. This destimulates baroreceptors in the carotid body and aortic arch which link to the nucleus tractus solitarius. This center in the brain increases sympathetic activity, releasing catecholamines into the blood stream. Binding to alpha-1 receptors results in systemic arterial vasoconstriction. This helps restore blood pressure but also increases the total peripheral resistance, increasing the workload of the heart. Binding to beta-1 receptors in the myocardium increases the heart rate and make contractions more forceful, in an attempt to increase cardiac output. This also, however, increases the amount of work the heart has to perform.

Hypertension. If hypotension, the blood pumped will not be enough for the circulation.

CHF has more than one cause, so the answer is quot;bothquot;. For example a patient with CHF from a weak heart (from multiple heart attacks) tends to have a low BP. Some other conditions cause CHF with normal or high BP.