0 Beware heart failure can increase the risk of cancer

Beware, heart failure can increase the risk of cancer - Turns heart failure and cancer risk are related. At least thats what was discovered by researchers in Minnesota. Their latest research shows that people with heart failure are more at risk of getting cancer.

Yet these findings do not necessarily indicate evidence that heart failure, which occurs when the heart fails to pump enough blood throughout the body, can cause cancer. Scientists said it will conduct further studies to clarify the relation.

"People do not consider the link between heart failure and cancer, at least they do not expect to get cancer after diagnosis of heart failure," said researcher Dr. Adrian Hernandez of Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, as reported by Reuters.

But Dr Sudhir Kushwaha, researchers from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester explains that the association of these two diseases are quite reasonable. This is because the organs are deprived of blood and oxygen due to heart failure might run into problems. Kushwaha emphasizes that heart failure patients should always be vigilant about any new symptoms that appear.

The results obtained after the researchers observed 961 patients with heart failure with people who do not have heart disease. After eight years, 244 people were still in the study diagnosed with various cancers.

After considering various factors such as the risk that participants held the weight and smoking habits, Kushwaha and colleagues found that patients with heart failure have a 68 percent chance of developing cancer is higher than participants who did not have heart failure.

Kushwaha research group revealed several reasons that could explain the link they found. Some heart medications can increase the risk of cancer, or stress, and inflammation of heart failure can also lead to cancer because the organ is starved of oxygen. In addition, the frequency of screening performed by patients with heart failure are also considered to be the cause.