What causes excessive sleepiness in heart failure patients?
Disease description:
My grandmother has heart failure. Recently, I've noticed she's extremely sleepy. Why do heart failure patients become excessively sleepy?
Doctor's answer (1)
Dr. Li Man
In heart failure patients, drowsiness is generally caused by a significant decline in cardiac function leading to cerebral ischemia and hypoxia. Patients with heart disease may experience excessive sleepiness, so oxygen saturation should be checked; a marked decrease in blood oxygen saturation can result in encephalopathy. If drowsiness is due to heart failure, which poses a more dangerous condition, other underlying diseases must be treated to improve symptoms.
