congestive heart failure

[anniem07271]

my father had a heart attack in 1984, a pacemaker four years ago andnow is diagnosed with heart failure, is this normal?

[ed34]

Heart failure certainly can't be classified as normal. Has he been under professional heart management over the years? I doubt whether he suffered much damage if any from the attack in 1984, that's nearly 30 years ago and I think heart failure would have begun years ago from that. What you need to establish is the cause of the heart failure. Have there been more blockages in the arteries that haven't been treated? was there as infection involved? I get the impression that artery blockages have been the cause, hence the pacemaker requirement because the normal cells transmitting the signal have been killed. The question would be, why didn't they treat those blockages?

[Jerry_NJ]

I don't think there is anyway to call your description normal or not normal.

Your subject states "congestive heart failure" which is a general description of a heart that is failing due to valve or other problems and is loosing it ability to pump blood.  I suppose one could call that normal if one has heart valve problems that can not be repaired or if it is simply the body is growing old and the heart is beginning to fail.  How long?  Don't know, asking the doctor for remedies and life expectancy is the correct path to answers.