The ice holds enough fresh water to raise sea level by nearly 200 feet. A sense of movement also emerges, in a way that no ice-free part of the Earth can convey – the entire landscape is in motion, and seemingly not very happy about it.Īntarctica is a continent comprising several large islands, one of them the size of Australia, all buried under a 10,000-foot-thick layer of ice. It’s a twisted, torn, wrenched landscape. Cliffs and tears, rips in the white blanket emerge, indicating a force that can toss city blocks of ice around like so many wrecked cars in a pileup. These are not just cracks, but canyons large enough to swallow a jetliner, or spires the size of monuments. Cracks appear in the surface, sometimes organized like a washboard, and sometimes a complete chaos of spires and ridges, revealing the pale blue crystalline heart of the ice below.Īs the plane flies lower, the scale of these breaks steadily grows. Little swirls of snow dunes cover the surface.īut as you approach the edge of the ice sheet, a sense of tremendous underlying power emerges. Like a gigantic wedding cake, the frosting of snow on top of the world’s largest ice sheet looks smooth and unblemished, beautiful and perfectly white. If you have been diagnosed with heart failure, it's important for you to manage and keep track of symptoms and report any sudden changes to your healthcare team.Flying over Antarctica, it’s hard to see what all the fuss is about. To "make up for" the loss in pumping capacity, the heart beats faster. heart palpitations, which feel like your heart is racing or throbbing. A caregiver or relative may notice this first.Ĭhanging levels of certain substances in the blood, such as sodium, can cause confusion. memory loss and feelings of disorientation. The digestive system receives less blood, causing problems with digestion. a feeling of being full or sick to your stomach. The body diverts blood away from less vital organs, particularly muscles in the limbs, and sends it to the heart and brain. The heart can't pump enough blood to meet the needs of body tissues. a tired feeling all the time and difficulty with everyday activities, such as shopping, climbing stairs, carrying groceries or walking. The kidneys are less able to dispose of sodium and water, also causing fluid retention in the tissues. You may find that your shoes feel tight.Īs blood flow out of the heart slows, blood returning to the heart through the veins backs up, causing fluid to build up in the tissues. swelling in the feet, ankles, legs or abdomen or weight gain. coughing that produces white or pink blood-tinged mucus.įluid builds up in the lungs (see above).īuildup of excess fluid in body tissues (edema) This causes fluid to leak into the lungs. You often complain of waking up tired or feeling anxious and restless.īlood "backs up" in the pulmonary veins (the vessels that return blood from the lungs to the heart) because the heart can't keep up with the supply. You often have difficulty breathing while lying flat and may need to prop up the upper body and head on two pillows. breathlessness during activity (most commonly), at rest, or while sleeping, which may come on suddenly and wake you up. Shortness of breath (also called dyspnea) People with Heart Failure May Experience. This table lists the most common signs and symptoms, explains why they occur and describes how to recognize them. Congestive heart failure is a type of heart failure which requires seeking timely medical attention, although sometimes the two terms are used interchangeably. But if you have more than one of these symptoms, even if you haven't been diagnosed with any heart problems, report them to a healthcare professional and ask for an evaluation of your heart.
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