What causes heart failure?

Heart failure can be caused by many different diseases and conditions and can occur either as an acute, sudden effect or as a chronic, long-standing condition.- Ischaemic heart disease - a blood clot in one of the coronary arteries can cause injury and irreversible damage to the heart muscle. - Hypertension - elevated blood pressure.- Diseases of the heart valves.- Cardiomyopathy - chronic heart muscle disease.- Congenital heart diseases. - Endocrine disorders, including decreased metabolism due to abnormal thyroid function (rare) and also increased metabolism due to abnormal thyroid function (rare).- Severe anaemia (rare).