Question

A 60-year-old woman has just been diagnosed with heart failure and her primary care provider is describing the concept of adaptation. which compensatory mechanisms may have masked the client's heart failure? select all that apply.

Answer 1

The answer is abnormal thickening and hardening of vessel walls and it increased rate and depth of breathing. Heart failure often referred to as congestive heart failure (CHF), is when the heart is incapable to pump appropriately to maintain blood flow to meet the body's needs.

Answer 2

The compensatory mechanism that masked the client’s heart failure is the activation of sympathetic nervous system because this is the initial compensatory mechanism of the heart that maintains cardiac output. The other compensatory mechanisms are neuro-hormonal responses, ventricular dilation and ventricular hypertrophy.

Moreover, Cardiac output is the product of heart rate and stroke volume.
An increase in heart rate results in an immediate increase in cardiac output where the client catch his/her breath during strenuous activity.