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Heart failure is more common in people age 65 or older, blacks, people who are overweight, and people who have had a heart attack. Children who have congenital heart defects also can develop heart failure.

Conditions that damage or overwork the heart muscle can cause the heart to weaken, including coronary heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, other heart conditions, and other factors.

A heart attack happens when the flow of oxygen-rich blood to a section of heart muscle suddenly becomes blocked and the heart can’t get oxygen. If you think you or someone else may be having heart attack symptoms or a heart attack, call 9–1–1 for emergency medical care.

Understanding the DASH eating plan will help you start and follow this plan for life.

Three NHLBI-funded trials showed the health benefits of the DASH diet, such as lowering high blood pressure and LDL cholesterol in the blood, and shaped the final DASH eating plan recommendations.

DASH is a flexible and balanced eating plan that helps create a heart-healthy eating style for life.

Carotid artery disease is a disease in which a waxy substance called plaque builds up inside the carotid arteries in either side of the neck. The common carotid arteries divide into internal carotid arteries, which supply oxygen-rich blood to your brain, and external carotid arteries, which supply oxygen-rich blood to your face, scalp, and neck.

You can't prevent inherited types of cardiomyopathy. You can take steps to lower your risk for diseases or conditions that may lead to or complicate cardiomyopathy through avoiding alcohol and illegal drugs, getting enough sleep, heart-healthy eating, physical activity, quitting smoking, and managing stress.

Many times, the cause of cardiomyopathy isn’t known. Cardiomyopathy can be acquired (you are not born with the condition but develop it due to another disease, condition, or factor) or inherited (your parents passed the gene for the disease on to you).

The types of cardiomyopathy include hypertrophic, dilated, restrictive, arrhythmogenic right ventricular, and unclassified cardiomyopathy.