Skip to main content

DYSPNEA(SHORTNESS OF BREATH)

Breathlessnes :

Dyspnea is a feeling of not being able to breathe well enough. Dyspnea is a normal symptom of heavy exertion but becomes pathological if it occurs in unexpected situations or light exertion.

It is a common symptom in people who have lung cancer or have cancer that has spread to the lungs.
You are also having dyspnea if your lungs aren't getting enough oxygen.

People who have dyspnea describe it as difficulty in breathing or shortness of breath. They often compare it to feeling like they are suffocating or being smothered .

Often the anxiety and fears can make the dyspnea worse , by panicking you can become more breathless and begin a cycle that is hard to stop.

SYMPTOMS :
When you have dyspnea , you may feel like :
  • Out of breath
  • Tightness in your chest
  • unable to breath deeply
  • Suffocation
It can be acute(sudden dyspnea) or chronic (long lasting dyspnea). Acute dyspnea starts within a few minutes or hours. It can happen with other symptoms like fever, rash, cough.

Chronic dyspnea can make you feel out of breath with everyday tasks, such as walking from room to room or standing up.

CAUSES :
Many conditions can cause dyspnea. The most common are:
  • Anxiety disorders
  • Asthma
  • Pulmonary embolism
  • Broken ribs
  • Choking
  • Excess fluid around your heart
  • A collapsed lung
  • Heart attacks
  • Heart failure
  • Heart rhythm problems
  • Pregnancy
  • Sudden blood loss
  • Anaphylaxis 
  • Pneumonia and other respiratory infections
  • A low red blood cell count (anemia)
DIAGNOSIS :
Lung function test called spirometry to measure how much air you can blow in and out of your lungs and how fast you can do it.  This can help diagnose asthma and COPD.

Other tests might include :
PULSE OXIMETRY : A  device is clipped on your finger or earlobe to measure how much oxygen is in your blood.
BLOOD TESTS :This can show if you have anemia or an infection and can check for a blood clot or fluid in your lungs.
CHEST X-RAY OR A CT-SCAN : It can see if you have pneumonia , a blood clot in your lung or other lung diseases.
ELECTROCARDIOGRAM : It measures the electrical signal from your heart to see if you are having a heart attack and find out how fast your heart is beating and if it has a healthy rhythm.

TREATMENT :
Breathing and relaxation methods may help. but your dyspnea treatment will depend on what's causing your shortness of breath. For example if you have asthma , you may get an inhaler to use when you have a flare.
You can often build up your lung strength with exercise, smoking should be quit , try to away from polluted air like chemical fumes , secondhand smoke and from extremes in temperature.


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

If you have any doubt. Let me know

Popular posts from this blog

Does Vaping Causes Cancer ?

 What is Vaping? E - cigarettes, sometimes called vapes, run on batteries and heat up nicotine, flavorings, and other chemicals. They turn them into a vapor you can breath in. Many chemicals that causes cancers are in the this vapor, that includes formaldehyde, heavy metals, and particles that can get stuck in the deepest parts of your lungs. Electronic cigarettes or e-cigarettes , put nicotine into your lungs and bloodstream, and they do it without the smoke and tar of a regular cigarette, but other harmful things can get into your body when you vape. That especially true if you use flavored cigarettes. Some chemicals in e- cigarettes can irritate the airways in your lungs. This can cause problems. Studies have found that flavorings like cinnamon can cause inflammation of lung cells. How do e-cigarettes work ? E- cigarettes heat a liquid called e- liquid or e-juice to turn it into aerosol(vapor). E-cigarettes users inhale this into their lungs. How vaping can affect your Lungs Ove...
Post a Comment
Read more

Are We Brainwashed During Sleep?

 In a new study, researchers suggest that tonight while you sleep, something amazing will happen within your brain. Your neurons will go quiet. A few seconds later , blood flow out of your head . Then, a watery liquid called cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) will flow in, washing through your brain in rhythmic, pulsing waves. The study is the first to illustrate that the brain's CSF pulses during sleep,and that these motions are closely tied with brain wave activity and blood flow. The research was conducted by a team from Boston University. Earlier studies have suggested that CSF flow and slow-wave activity both help flush toxic,memory impairing proteins from the brain. As people age, their brains often generate fewer slow waves. In turn, this could affect the blood flow in the brain and reduce the pulsing of CSF during sleep., leading to buildup of toxic proteins and a decline in memory abilities. Although researchers have tended  to evaluate these processes separately, it now appea...
Post a Comment
Read more

Sweet Poison : Why Sugar is Ruining your Health

Did you know some of the main ingredients in most of your pantry foods and refrigerated sauces contain sugar? Usually sugar is added to foods in the forms of simple sugars such as glucose, fructose or sucrose, but often manufacturer will disguise the amount of sugar by listing it under several different names. Some of them are : Barely malt Brown rice syrup Corn syrup Dextrin Dextrose Ethyl maltol Have you ever wondered why processed sugar consumption is bad for you ? Quitting sugar has a lot of benefits. Let's face it , very few people go for a day without consuming sugar. However, not all of it is bad. For instance, sugar from milk products(lactose) is healthy. In addition to that, sugar from some fruit products (fructose) is also healthy. In other words it can only be healthy when it is consumed in its natural form and moderate amounts. Unfortunately, most sugar that we consume is unhealthy, artificial, and slowly killing us. Although it helps to make your food sweet , the negat...
Post a Comment
Read more