Common symptoms of heart failure include:

•  Shortness of breath during daily activities
•  Having trouble breathing when lying down
•  Weight gain with swelling in the feet, legs, ankles, or stomach
• Generally feeling tired or weak

Certain medical conditions can increase your risk for heart failure, including

• Coronary artery disease (CAD) (the most common type of heart disease) and heart attacks
•  Diabetes
•  High blood pressure
•  Obesity
•  Other Conditions Related to Heart Disease
•  Valvular Heart Disease

Unhealthy behaviors can also increase your risk for heart failure, especially for people who have one of the conditions listed above. Unhealthy behaviors include:

• Smoking tobacco
• Eating foods high in fat, cholesterol, and sodium
• Not getting enough physical activity
• Excessive alcohol intake

To diagnose heart failure, your doctor will take a careful medical history, review your symptoms and perform a physical examination. Your doctor will also check for the presence of risk factors, such as high blood pressure, coronary artery disease or diabetes.

Using a stethoscope, your doctor can listen to your lungs for signs of congestion. The stethoscope also picks up abnormal heart sounds that may suggest heart failure. The doctor may examine the veins in your neck and check for fluid buildup in your abdomen and legs.

After the physical exam, your doctor may also order some of these tests:

• Blood tests. 
• Chest X-ray. 
• Electrocardiogram (ECG). 
• Echocardiogram. 
• Stress test.
• Cardiac computerized tomography (CT) scan. 
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). 
• Coronary angiogram. 
• Myocardial biopsy.

Early diagnosis and treatment can improve quality and length of life for people who have heart failure. Treatment usually involves the following:

• Taking medicines
• Reducing sodium in the diet
• Drinking less liquids
• Devices that remove excess salt and water from the blood
• Heart transplant
• Defibrillator
• Getting daily physical activity

People with heart failure also track their symptoms each day so that they can discuss these symptoms with their health care team.