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31.10.2019

Shortness of breath is called such breathing disorders (rhythm, frequency, depth), in which a person does not have enough air or breathing is difficult.

Shortness of breath occurs with so many ailments: diseases of the lungs, heart, autonomic or nervous disorders, anemia.

Breathing during shortness of breath is frequent, but incomplete, because the person is not able to take a deep breath and feels tightness in the chest with each breath.

Shortness of breath is not yet a diagnosis itself, but only an indicator (sign) of a disease. In heart disease, shortness of breath is an important symptom, which we will discuss below.

The reasons

Usually shortness of breath is associated with low levels of oxygen in the body (hypoxia) or in the blood (hypoxemia) and high levels of carbon dioxide. This causes reflex stimulation of the respiratory center in the brain. As a result, a person feels a lack of air, which causes rapid breathing.

With restrictive dyspnea lung volume in patients is reduced. This may not be reflected in any way while it is at rest. As soon as such a person increases the load, shortness of breath appears. This is typical for people with pleural thickening or chest deformity.

With obstructive dyspnea the narrowness of the airways leads to an increase in airflow resistance. Air normally enters the lungs when inhaled, but has difficulty leaving them.

For this reason, it is difficult for such people to exhale. This shortness of breath is associated with cardiac asthma, where fluid in the lungs makes the airways narrow and unable to breathe normally.

With circulatory dyspnea the body is suddenly deficient in oxygen. Such shortness of breath occurs with anemia.

Paroxysmal dyspnea usually occurs suddenly at night. A person has to stand up abruptly to stop choking and start breathing.

About inspiratory dyspnea they say when the patient's inhalation is disturbed, and about expiratory - if it is more difficult for him to exhale.

Even healthy people may occasionally experience shortness of breath. This happens against the background of anxiety and a decrease in the amount of carbon dioxide in the blood.

This condition is medically known as hyperventilation syndrome. Shortness of breath can also be normal during physical exertion, when the body's need for oxygen is too high.

Shortness of breath with various ailments

Shortness of breath occurs in various pathologies. Most often, these can be diseases of the lungs, heart, endocrine disorders, anemia, etc.

Shortness of breath due to obstructive processes in the respiratory system usually manifests itself along with the symptoms of bronchitis (acute and chronic) and bronchial asthma.

Shortness of breath in restrictive disorders occurs with pneumonia, exudative pleurisy, many serious diffuse lung diseases (pneumosclerosis, tuberculosis, granulomatosis, dust lung diseases), after chest operations, with kyphoscoliosis and pneumothorax.

Shortness of breath of central origin(when the excitability of the respiratory center is reduced), occurs with dissociated breathing. In this case, the coordination of the work of the muscles of the diaphragm and the respiratory muscles is disrupted, as a result of which breathing becomes undulating.

This happens with some severe pathologies (circulatory disorders in the brain, abscess or inflammation of the brain).

Shortness of breath due to accumulation of toxins(for example, acetone) is manifested by rare, noisy and deep breathing. This type of shortness of breath develops in diseases with impaired tissue respiration or blood transport function. Such pathological breathing occurs in diabetic coma, ketoacidosis, and renal failure.

With heart disease

In heart disease, shortness of breath occurs due to an excess of blood (plethora) in the lungs and a deterioration in cardiac output.

Shortness of breath in heart disease occurs due to stagnation of blood circulation and appears first during exercise, and then in a calm state, in the form of various respiratory disorders and is combined with other manifestations of the disease (edema, pain, rhythm pathology, etc.)

Shortness of breath in this case can occur in such manifestations:

under load;
at rest;
in the form of seizures (up to pulmonary edema).

Under load

Of course, even a healthy person can begin to choke when doing an unusual physical activity for him (for example, running up to the tenth floor). But this is not considered a pathology.

If a person previously coped with the load, and then stopped, then this is already pathological shortness of breath. This suggests that the person has heart problems, and he needs an urgent consultation with a cardiologist.

The nature of shortness of breath in pathologies of the heart

Shortness of breath speaks of stagnant processes in the cardiovascular system. Often it appears after other symptoms already when the process has become running. And if the patient could ignore pain or swelling, then shortness of breath is too obvious a manifestation to be ignored.

Orthopnea

Heart disease can cause shortness of breath when lying down (orthopnea). It disappears after the person sits down or stands up. This indicates advanced cardiac pathology in humans.

Such people are often afraid to lie down and even sleep sitting up. The same fact explains the well-known feature of the American President Franklin Roosevelt, who preferred to sleep in an armchair.

Intense shortness of breath

With severe heart failure, the disease needs constant treatment, but even this is not able to overcome shortness of breath, which is chronic.

conclusions

Shortness of breath is a formidable symptom and should not be ignored if we do not want trouble for ourselves or our loved ones.

It is important to know the following facts about her:

Shortness of breath manifests itself as a feeling.
It is not the disease itself, but speaks of its presence; the appearance of shortness of breath indicates that the disease has a severe course.

Having extensive experience in the field of cardiology, Dr. Zhuravlev has helped many people get rid of problems with blood vessels and the heart. The most common diagnoses faced by Nikolai Yuryevich are atherosclerosis and hypertension. Other authors

The causes of shortness of breath when walking can be very different - from physiological factors to psychosomatic abnormalities and serious illnesses. Today we will find out what shortness of breath is, what diseases it is associated with, and when it poses a serious threat to health.

Shortness of breath: what is it and why does it occur?

Shortness of breath or dyspnea is a violation of breathing, accompanied by a change in its depth and frequency. This condition is characterized by several main features:

breathing becomes frequent and superficial;
there is a feeling of suffocation and lack of air;
inhalations and exhalations are noisy, often accompanied by whistling or wheezing.

Shortness of breath can also appear in a completely healthy person. In this case, it is considered physiological, and occurs under conditions of hypoxia (lack of oxygen), which is observed when climbing to high altitudes or when staying in enclosed spaces where the air contains a high content of carbon dioxide.

The causes of shortness of breath during physical exertion is the lack of special training. That is, when a person who has not previously been involved in sports gives the body an intense load (running, walking, lifting weights), then shortness of breath occurs as a compensatory mechanism that allows you to adapt to new conditions. If you have been lying on the couch for six months before, and then suddenly decided to build muscle mass, you should not be surprised that after a few minutes of training your breath will go astray and you will start to choke.

However, physiological shortness of breath will not haunt you permanently. Regular training, a gradual increase in stress, the formation of endurance - will soon get rid of this symptom. Pathological shortness of breath, which is a companion of many diseases of the cardiovascular, respiratory, and immune systems of the body, is quite another matter.

Symptoms and classification

The normal respiratory rate is 16-20 per minute. They say about shortness of breath when the frequency, rhythm and depth of breathing changes, which causes significant discomfort to a person. According to the nature of the manifestation, experts distinguish three states:

inspiratory dyspnea - manifests itself on inspiration and is the result of a narrowing of the lumen of the large bronchi and trachea;
expiratory dyspnea - observed on exhalation, caused by narrowing of the small bronchi, manifests itself in conditions such as COPD or pulmonary enphysema:
mixed type - accompanied by a complicated inhalation and exhalation and is the result of severe pulmonary diseases or heart failure.

A healthy person usually does not pay attention to their breathing. During moderate exercise, such as climbing stairs, the respiratory rate usually increases. This condition does not cause much discomfort, since shortness of breath quickly passes and breathing is restored. But there are such severe pathologies when shortness of breath haunts even at rest.

Experts distinguish 5 degrees of severity in relation to shortness of breath that haunts the patient:

Zero. Shortness of breath appears only with intense physical exertion.
Easy degree. Appears when walking fast, for a long time or while climbing a hill.
Average degree. Occurs regularly and forces a slower pace of walking and frequent stops necessary in order to catch one's breath.
Heavy. Shortness of breath appears after a few minutes of walking and forces the patient to stop every 100 meters, or after climbing just one flight of stairs, to restore breathing.
Extremely heavy. A person begins to suffocate at the slightest physical exertion, shortness of breath can occur even at rest, which forces the patient to very rarely leave the house.

Depending on the cause of occurrence, pathological shortness of breath is a consequence of anemia, pulmonary, cardiac pathologies and occurs in an acute or chronic form. Such a condition can pursue constantly or manifest itself periodically, with an exacerbation of concomitant diseases.

Therefore, you should not ignore a dangerous symptom, because it can be a sign of life-threatening pathologies. If shortness of breath occurs, you should consult a doctor and establish the cause of this condition.

Causes of pathological shortness of breath

The main causes of shortness of breath and lack of air in various diseases can be divided into 4 large groups. A characteristic symptom is manifested in the following pathologies:

Respiratory failure due to bronchial obstruction and lung disease.
Heart failure.
Diseases associated with metabolic disorders.
Neuroses and neurocirculatory dystonia, accompanied by hyperventilation syndrome.

Let us consider in more detail the diseases that can cause severe shortness of breath and cause significant discomfort to the patient.

Shortness of breath with anemia

Anemia is a common disease, accompanied by a change in the composition of the blood and a drop in hemoglobin levels. The cause of the disease is rigid diets, unbalanced nutrition, chronic bleeding, metabolic disorders or severe infections.

Since hemoglobin plays an important role in the delivery of oxygen from the lungs to organs and tissues, its deficiency leads to hypoxia (oxygen starvation). To compensate for this disturbance, the body increases the frequency and depth of breaths, trying to pump more oxygen into the lungs, which causes characteristic shortness of breath. The course of anemia accompanies weakness, loss of strength, pallor of the skin, dizziness, headaches, and shortness of breath complicates the disease and causes significant discomfort to the patient.

Cardiac dyspnea

Shortness of breath in pathologies of the cardiovascular system accompanies conditions such as acute coronary syndrome, heart failure, heart defects, pericarditis, myocarditis or cardiomyopathy. If left untreated, cardiac dyspnea grows rapidly and is accompanied by other characteristic symptoms - pain in the heart, pallor of the skin, cyanosis of the nasolabial triangle. By the rate of increase in breathing difficulties, the doctor can judge the severity of cardiac pathology.

If shortness of breath occurs during a night's sleep, the development of heart failure can be suspected. In the chronic form of this disease, shortness of breath is accompanied by deep breaths, so the body reflexively tries to cope with oxygen starvation.

The most dangerous condition is an increase in shortness of breath at rest. This symptom indicates a severe form of heart failure and requires immediate complex treatment in order to avoid possible complications (myocardial infarction).

Another characteristic symptom of cardiac dyspnea is orthopnea. This is often observed in cardiac asthma and is manifested by increased dyspnea when lying down. As a result, the patient is forced to take an upright position in order to facilitate breathing, which is accompanied by insomnia and a feeling of chronic fatigue during the day.

With cardiac asthma, paroxysmal dyspnea develops, which is characterized by nocturnal attacks of suffocation, leading to the awakening of the patient. Heart defects cause severe shortness of breath even with minor physical exertion and are also accompanied by fatigue, palpitations, pallor, swelling, and pain.

With paroxysmal tachycardia, shortness of breath appears simultaneously with a sensation of palpitations, the severity of which depends on how severely the blood flow in the vessels is disturbed. Treatment of cardiac dyspnea is complex. To eliminate a dangerous syndrome, it is necessary to stimulate the heart and remove excess fluid from the lungs. The patient needs constant supervision of specialists and must regularly take medicines to prevent further progression of the disease.

Pulmonary dyspnea

Shortness of breath of varying severity develops in almost all diseases of the lungs and bronchi:

COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease);
pneumonia;
pulmonary edema;
bronchial asthma;
tuberculosis;
pneumothorax and emphysema;
damage to the respiratory muscles in myasthenia gravis, paralysis, poliomyelitis;
compression of the lungs with scoliosis, ankylosing spondylitis;
silicosis - occupational diseases that cause lung damage;
malignant tumors.

Pulmonary edema develops with pathologies of the left ventricle of the heart. In this case, there is severe shortness of breath, causing suffocation, and a wet cough, which is accompanied by the separation of watery mucus. Breathing becomes loud and bubbling, wheezing appears in the lungs. The patient needs urgent medical attention.

Acute and chronic forms of bronchitis are accompanied by an inflammatory process in large and small bronchi. The patient's condition is complicated by a runny nose, fever, sore throat. There is a characteristic dry or wet cough, shortness of breath, weakness. Pneumonia - inflammation of the lung tissue is accompanied by similar symptoms, but shortness of breath appears from the very beginning of the disease and is characterized by a mixed form, that is, the patient experiences difficulty breathing while inhaling and exhaling.

COPD is a disease of the lungs, accompanied by a narrowing of the lumen of the bronchi and an increase in expiratory dyspnea. That is, the patient easily inhales, but the exhalation is given to him with great difficulty. In COPD, the narrowing of the bronchi is almost irreversible and is accompanied by a wet cough with sputum.

With bronchial asthma, shortness of breath appears in attacks, while the patient easily inhales air, but cannot exhale it. The condition is complicated by the appearance of congestion and pain in the chest, cough. The attack is relieved by medications - bronchomimetics, which relax and expand the lumen of the bronchi.

Lung cancer in the early stages is asymptomatic. In the future, as the tumor reaches a large size, characteristic shortness of breath appears, symptoms such as severe, hacking cough, hemoptysis.

Shortness of breath with endocrine pathologies

Diabetes mellitus leads to damage to the kidneys and blood vessels and provokes oxygen starvation of the body. The development of diabetic nephropathy is complicated by anemia and increased hypoxia, which in turn leads to characteristic shortness of breath.

Thyrotoxicosis is a condition in which the thyroid gland produces an excess of thyroid hormones. Under their influence, the heart muscle begins to contract intensively, accelerating metabolic processes in the body and increasing its need for oxygen. A rapid heartbeat makes it difficult to fully pump blood to tissues and organs, which causes oxygen starvation and shortness of breath.

Causes of shortness of breath in the elderly

With age, the immune defense of the body weakens, internal organs and tissues gradually age, and chronic diseases develop. As a result, the risk of severe lung diseases, bacterial and viral infections increases significantly in older people. After a certain age bar (more often, after 60 years), the following pathologies become the main cause of shortness of breath:

pneumonia;
COPD;
bronchial asthma;
anemia;
heart failure.

Often the cause of shortness of breath in the elderly is concomitant diabetes mellitus, obesity and other pathologies of the endocrine system. When characteristic symptoms appear, you should immediately seek medical help. This will help prevent the development of dangerous complications.

In children

Breathing problems can be suspected if its frequency in a baby under 1 year old is more than 40 breaths per minute, in a child over 5 years old - more than 25 / min. Check the respiratory rate (RR) at rest, while the child is sleeping. To do this, just put your hand on the baby's chest and count the number of breaths per minute.

If the respiratory rate significantly exceeds the norm and slowly recovers at rest, you need to sound the alarm and contact a specialist for an examination. What pathologies can cause shortness of breath in a child? Most often, these are congenital heart anomalies (heart defects) or iron deficiency anemia caused by hypovitaminosis and malnutrition.

Bacterial and viral bronchitis, pneumonia, allergic reactions or bronchial asthma can provoke the occurrence of shortness of breath in a child. In addition, shortness of breath in babies can occur with acute stenosing laryngotracheitis, accompanied by edema and narrowing of the larynx. This is a dangerous condition that can lead to suffocation. In this case, the child needs urgent hospitalization.

During pregnancy

In a young woman, pregnancy contributes to shortness of breath. Almost 50% of expectant mothers, starting from the 8th week of pregnancy, begin to experience some discomfort and difficulty breathing when walking fast or exerting themselves. The longer the gestation period, the more pronounced the discomfort with shortness of breath and increased fatigue.

We hasten to reassure our readers, since doctors consider this condition to be a variant of the physiological norm. During pregnancy, a woman's lungs experience a double load, since the fetus does not have its own gas exchange system.

Therefore, the lungs of a woman must also provide oxygen to the unborn child. Most often, the respiratory system does not have time to adapt to the increased needs of the body, and the concentration of carbon dioxide in the blood rises (especially with increasing physical activity). This causes shortness of breath or, using medical terminology, dysfunctional breathing of pregnant women.

Shortness of breath after eating

Violation of respiratory functions after a heavy meal is a fairly common occurrence. Why is this happening? The mechanism of development of "afternoon" shortness of breath is that after the intake of food, the digestive system is actively included in the work. Special digestive enzymes are secreted that are necessary for the breakdown of the food bolus.

To ensure these processes, blood flow to the stomach, pancreas, liver and intestines is necessary. If the body functions normally, then this process occurs without deviations. In the presence of chronic diseases, digestion fails, and the internal organs experience oxygen starvation. To compensate for it, the lungs begin to work in an enhanced mode, as a result, breathing becomes more frequent and shortness of breath develops.

Which doctor should I contact?

When shortness of breath occurs, you should not delay seeking medical help, as this symptom may indicate the development of dangerous diseases. First you need to visit a therapist and undergo the necessary examination.

Diagnostic measures consist of a series of laboratory and hardware studies and include blood and sputum tests, spirometry, ECG and ultrasound of the heart, chest x-ray or computed tomography (CT) to determine pathological changes in the lungs.

After clarifying the diagnosis and finding out the cause that provokes respiratory failure, narrow specialists will take up the matter. In case of cardiovascular disorders, the patient will be treated by a cardiologist, in case of pulmonary pathologies, by a pulmonologist. If other conditions are the cause of shortness of breath, then, if necessary, an endocrinologist, neuropathologist, hematologist, oncologist and other specialists are connected to the treatment.

The appearance of the patient can provide a lot of information in terms of establishing a diagnosis. Shortness of breath, being a fairly noticeable symptom that is visible to the "naked eye", often orients the doctor to the suspicion that something is wrong with the lungs. However, other diseases (cardiovascular pathology, diseases of the endocrine and nervous system, etc.) cannot be discounted, since dyspnea, as such a disorder of respiratory function is also called, is characteristic of a very wide range of pathological conditions.

Shortness of breath shortness of breath - discord

Yes, indeed, the common name does not define the same nature of this disorder, so clarifying the individual "symptoms" of shortness of breath in most cases helps to find out its origin at the first stages of the search. Thus, in clinical practice, the following types of dyspnea have been formed:

If the disorder of breathing is expressed in its increase, then they speak of tachypnea. This type is widely known and familiar to many due to the fact that it is a constant companion of febrile conditions in any infectious processes and hematological diseases. Frequent and deep breathing is denoted by the terms hyperpnea and polypnea;
Rare breathing movements are called bradypnea, which may indicate brain damage and hypoxia as a consequence of these lesions. Rare shallow breathing is called oligopnea;
Apnea(respiratory arrest) can be fixed by observing a sleeping person who has a change in the functional properties of the respiratory system due to various acquired diseases, mainly age-related (COPD - chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). That is why snoring is not considered so harmless, since it is primarily the culprit of sleep apnea. People suffering from heart disease do not tolerate a strictly horizontal position, some time after falling asleep they experience orthopnea(lying down leads to difficulty breathing), so many people prefer to sleep half-sitting on high pillows.

symptoms of heart failure accompanying shortness of breath

A factor such as difficulty inhaling or exhaling underlies the division of dyspnea into:

Inspiratory dyspnea, characterized labored breathing. It is characteristic (cardiac shortness of breath) and lesions of the respiratory organs (upper respiratory tract, trachea, large bronchi, pleura, diaphragm) and indicates their poor patency, which can be caused by:

bronchospasm,
swelling of the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract,
foreign body,
accumulation of pathological secretion,
developmental anomalies,
tumors that compress the airways,
abscesses, etc.

expiratory dyspnea, indicating obstacles that impede the patency of small bronchi and caused by bronchospasm due to narrowing of bronchioles, accumulation of secretions in them and swelling of the mucous membrane. Expiratory shortness of breath accompanies diseases such as bronchial asthma, bronchiolitis;

the cause of non-cardiac expiratory dyspnea is the narrowing of the bronchial tubes, in particular in asthma

Mixed type of shortness of breath is a characteristic sign of parenchymal acute respiratory failure (ARF).

Obviously, the most common cause of dyspnea is broncho-pulmonary pathology, ranging from childhood laryngospasm to acute respiratory failure and pulmonary edema. Of course, other diseases will also appear on this list (bronchitis, bronchial asthma, pneumosclerosis), leading to COPD and, accordingly, to chronic respiratory failure.

Treatment of each type of dyspnea should be aimed at eliminating or reducing the negative impact of the underlying disease, a symptom of which is shortness of breath.

Why is there not enough air if everything is fine with the heart?

Shortness of breath in heart failure is very characteristic and is associated mainly with organic lesions of the organs of the cardiovascular system, it is predominantly inspiratory character, that is, it manifests itself on inspiration. Cardiac shortness of breath, in general, is the prerogative of old age, although not only in severe cases, but also with it, it can easily be present in a child. Especially if the child is a vagotonic who is influenced by or.

In addition, the causes of shortness of breath can be hidden behind many other pathological conditions that give symptoms of suffocation and lack of air, but are not associated with a violation of cardiac activity. For example, a fairly common disease of childhood - stenosis of the larynx (laryngospasm) causes significant respiratory distress (inspiratory dyspnea), which can quickly lead to death if medical attention does not arrive in time. However, everything is in order.

Psychogenic and physiological factors that provoke shortness of breath

Often shortness of breath is formed under the influence psychogenic factors or physiological:

Neuroses, panic attacks, fears and anxieties, along with various autonomic disorders (sweating,) are also accompanied by a feeling of "unexpected breathlessness". Such a phenomenon is called respiratory distress syndrome in which patients are not satisfied with their respiratory system. They note shortness of breath when talking when they are very excited, yawning, coughing and sighing, which they cannot get rid of, although they take some measures. However, it is obvious that until such people are able to withstand psycho-emotional stress, dyspnea will not disappear anywhere. Psychovegetative syndrome, which occurs against the background of vegetative-vascular crises, which occasionally leads to the patient's VVD, can only be stopped by drugs aimed at treatment - vegetative-vascular;
Obesity (even alimentary-constitutional) can cause shortness of breath already at a young age. And, if at first young, but obese people do not experience discomfort when walking (the young heart can still cope), then during physical exertion, excess weight will certainly affect, causing a feeling of suffocation and lack of air;
Fever of any origin is manifested by superficial rapid breathing (tachypnea);
Syndrome of postviral asthenia, which is formed a month or two after a viral infection;
Deformed chest as a result of curvature of the spine or for other reasons;
During pregnancy, especially in the later stages, of course, shortness of breath can be expected, because the woman's body begins to work for two, and the load is still considerable, since it is necessary to provide the baby with all the necessary nutrients. In addition, the weight gained due to the fetus does not add lightness, and the stretched uterus occupies a significant space and interferes with free respiratory movements, so pregnant women permanently feel a lack of air, know how it smells, and practically cannot be in stuffy, poorly ventilated rooms ;
Shortness of breath can occur after eating, which is not at all surprising, because a full stomach begins to put pressure on the diaphragm and prevents it from fully participating in the act of breathing. Truth , in healthy people, this quickly passes, but patients should especially dwell on this point and take into account that it is harmful to overeat during episodes of shortness of breath;
Staying in the highlands causes a feeling of lack of air, so climbers, who love mountains so much, are well aware of the influence of climatic conditions;
Respiratory failure is also noted by weather-dependent patients, mainly people suffering from various autonomic disorders (NCD);
Excessive physical and psycho-emotional stress, running long distances without training and other sports and strength activities will certainly end in severe shortness of breath, which in some cases may take a long time to restore breathing.

Physiological conditions such as pregnancy, sports or overeating one way or another soon pass, but with psychophysiological factors things are a bit more complicated, since there is a possibility that such a condition can lead to psychosomatic diseases which are often diseases of the cardiovascular system.

Heart disease and shortness of breath

Cardiac dyspnea can have a different mechanism of occurrence.

On the first path there are changes associated initially with the pathology of the respiratory organs and later the involvement of the circulatory system. Increasing hypoxia contributes to the deposition of collagen in the lung tissue and the development of pneumosclerosis, which, in turn, leads to even greater hypoxia, which aggravates it. The vicious circle closes with the formation of irreversible processes.

It becomes incredibly difficult for the right ventricle to push blood into the pulmonary circulation under such conditions. First, the right ventricle of the heart, in order to somehow cope and compensate for blood circulation. However, since the cardiac and respiratory systems are inseparable, over time the right section expands. As a result of such changes, the stage of decompensation of cardiac activity begins with the development cardiopulmonary (right ventricular) insufficiency called "cor pulmonale". Such a condition is often a provocateur of rhythm disturbance with the development and flickering .

Second way the formation of dyspnea is directly related to diseases of the cardiovascular system. And so that the reader understands the mechanism, it can be displayed in the diagram:

Difficulty returning blood from lungs to left atrium

Increasing pressure in the small circle and development

Circulatory disorder in the lungs, which leads to fluid stagnation, impaired ventilation and, consequently, respiratory activity ( left ventricular failure).

The cause of shortness of breath is heart problems

Almost all pathology of the cardiovascular system, leading to heart failure, is accompanied by inspiratory dyspnea, and then of a mixed type:

(AH) and (IHD) in the elderly, giving "small" signs of congestive heart failure in the form of shortness of breath and suffocation. And since there is a clear correlation between hypertension and overweight, in obese patients with constantly high blood pressure, shortness of breath occurs not only when walking and physical exertion, but quite often appears at rest and at night. Such people sleep anxiously, and their sleep is continually interrupted by apnea;
The asthmatic variant of myocardial infarction (and myocardial infarction itself), as a rule, has all the manifestations of left ventricular failure and proceeds with noisy breathing, coughing, shortness of breath and suffocation;
Valvular defects, myocarditis, chronic aneurysm of the heart and other heart lesions complicated by left ventricular failure, accompanies dyspnea (paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea);
Cardiac asthma, giving the patient much suffering;
Pulmonary edema. Unfortunately, it often leads to death, therefore, it requires emergency resuscitation;
(pulmonary embolism) is a most dangerous condition that cannot even exist without symptoms such as lack of air and suffocation, since it leads to the development acute respiratory failure, developing as a result bronchospasm.

How to treat shortness of breath?

Before you start fighting shortness of breath, you should not run to the pharmacy and buy pills that a neighbor advised. To get started you need:

Quit the bad habit of smoking if you smoke;
Reduce weight if it is in excess;
Adjust if present in abnormal figures.

To determine the cause of the respiratory disorder, you will also need to undergo an examination, which includes:

Biochemical blood test;
R-graphy of the chest;
Analysis of the function of external respiration.

Unfortunately, not every type of shortness of breath can be cured, basically, it all depends on the causes that gave rise to it. Of course, rapid shallow breathing at high temperatures (influenza, SARS) will go away when the condition returns to normal, although it is known that bronchitis is a common complication of influenza infection, which also causes respiratory dysfunction and requires quite lengthy therapeutic measures.

To treat children's laryngospasms, which the child usually "outgrows" by the age of 4, use distraction therapy (mustard plasters), antispasmodics (nosh-pa), anticholinergics (platifillin), antihistamines (claritin, fenistil, pipolfen) and glucocorticoids. The latter are used in emergency cases when the attack has gone too far.

Medications that dilate the bronchi, expectorate and reduce the load on the heart help relieve shortness of breath with respiratory failure:

β-agonists (salbutamol, clenbuterol, berotek);
M-anticholinergics (atrovent, berodual);
Methylxanthines (eufillin, theophylline) of prolonged action (teopec, teotard);
Inhaled glucocorticoids, which are used primarily to treat severe shortness of breath in case of bronchial asthma;
Medications that thin sputum and promote its evacuation (bromhexine, mukaltin, ACC, ambraxol);
Peripheral vasodilators (- nifedipine, nitrates - nitrosorbitol, ACE inhibitors, which are especially effective in pulmonary hypertension - captopril, enalapril);
(furosemide, veroshpiron, diakarb, hypothiazide), which reduce congestion;
Antispasmodics (nosh-pa, papaverine).

In addition to drug treatment, oxygen therapy with humidified oxygen, physiotherapy, and breathing exercises are successfully used to regulate respiratory function.

For shortness of breath when walking, indicating COPD, the treatment of which is very difficult due to the irreversible changes that have occurred, the above schemes are also applied.

Treatment of cardiac dyspnea with folk remedies is very common among patients, since respiratory failure lasts for years, causes a lot of trouble, proceeds painfully and significantly reduces the quality of human life. Help with shortness of breath is provided by medicines growing in forests, vegetable gardens and meadows. The principle of action of medicinal herbs is similar to the effect of synthetic drugs (bronchodilator and expectorant), however, as you know, they are mostly harmless and do not have as many side effects. In addition, many pharmaceutical preparations are produced on the basis of the healing properties of plants. So why not try to make a medicine at home, which at least for a while (at first!) Will help get rid of shortness of breath, so intrusive and unpleasant?

The roots of cyanosis, licorice, lovage, peppermint and yarrow herbs, bean pods are great for self-production of medicines.
A little-known recipe from aloe leaves (you can take it on the windowsill), infused for 10 days on vodka, relieves any cough and shortness of breath. To do this, a teaspoon of the infusion taken is flavored with a tablespoon of honey, a pause of 10 minutes is maintained and washed down with a glass of hot tea.

On the use of garlic with honey and lemon for the treatment of cardiac shortness of breath, it is better to ask your doctor, but if he gives his go-ahead, you can try the following recipes:

Make a slurry of 10 squeezed lemons (use juice) and 10 heads of garlic, add this mixture to a liter jar of honey, close and forget for a week. Take 4 teaspoons, savoring and swallowing slowly. They say that in 2 months you can achieve good results.
And if you take the juice of 24 lemons, add garlic gruel (350 gr.), Infuse for a day and drink a teaspoon, having previously dissolved it in ½ cup of water? People who have tried the medicine on themselves claim that after 2 weeks you can run and dance, feeling a second youth.

Sadly, but folk remedies for cardiac shortness of breath will help for the time being, so you should not completely rely on them. The cause of shortness of breath still remains, the disease progresses and it will still have to be treated. And in this case, to do without the help of a doctor will not work.

Video: shortness of breath in the program “About the most important thing”

Difficulty breathing with a change in its depth, rhythm, frequency and duration of the inhalation and exhalation phases is called shortness of breath. It can be subjective, which is only felt by the patient, and objective, recorded during examination. The causes of shortness of breath are varied. It can be observed in healthy people during exercise, in mountainous areas, with untrained people, in stuffiness, and at the same time it is called physiological. Pathological shortness of breath is caused by various diseases.

In our article, we will tell you what causes shortness of breath and lack of air, and what research needs to be done to find out its type and cause.

Main reasons

Why does shortness of breath appear? Difficulty breathing can occur due to such diseases:

respiratory and heart failure;
pathology of the nervous system;
anemia;
uremia, obesity, diabetic coma
psychogenic in neurosis.

Shortness of breath on exertion can occur in any of these conditions. All of them lead to a discrepancy between the body's need for oxygen and the ability of the lungs, blood, or respiratory muscles to provide gas exchange with increased physical activity. Initially, shortness of breath occurs when walking, then it progresses and occurs already at rest and at the slightest exertion.

Shortness of breath is closely related to exercise tolerance and body fitness. Therefore, this symptom often occurs in older people with little physical activity. Along with the diagnosis of the causes of this condition and their treatment, to eliminate shortness of breath, it is necessary to gradually increase physical activity - from simple exercises in the morning to walking.

suppression of the activity of the cerebral respiratory center under the influence of morphine, other drugs, drugs from the group of barbiturates, carbon dioxide;
damage to the respiratory center in stroke or brain injury;
increase in intracranial pressure in tumors;
diseases of the spinal cord, nerves, muscles;
diseases of the spine, ribs, diaphragm;
bronchial diseases.

Respiratory disorders due to circulatory failure appear with heart defects, hypertension, coronary artery disease, myocarditis, cardiomyopathies.

Shortness of breath in diseases of the respiratory system

Obstructive respiratory failure (RD) is caused by difficulty in the flow of air into the alveoli due to mechanical obstruction of the trachea or bronchi. At the same time, shortness of breath is unstable, sometimes sudden, with a predominant lengthening of the exhalation, the patient breathes slowly and deeply at the onset of the disease. shows normal vital capacity (VC) and a decrease in rapid (forced) expiratory volume. Shortness of breath with difficulty exhaling is called expiratory.

The restrictive form is caused by a decrease in the number or surface of the alveoli. Often this causes difficulty in breathing - inspiratory dyspnea. Respiratory disturbances are constant and increase over time, their frequency increases, cyanosis of the skin (cyanosis) appears. Decreased VC.

Diseases with obstructive DN

Shortness of breath in bronchitis is caused by a violation of the patency of the bronchi

These diseases cause bronchial obstruction. These include:

- chronic pathology of the bronchi of an inflammatory nature, often having an allergic cause. Its main is an attack at rest with difficulty in exhaling, culminating in a cough and the release of a small amount of sputum. Seizures occur after (dust, pollen, animal hair, etc.). Shortness of breath in bronchial asthma manifests itself on exhalation, that is, it has an expiratory character. It can intensify in spring and summer, during the flowering of plants.
Bronchiolitis is a severe inflammation of the small bronchi with fever, wheezing, respiratory distress, and cyanosis. Occurs in children, debilitated patients, the elderly. Heart failure quickly joins. Severe shortness of breath is characteristic, the child develops a severe broncho-obstructive syndrome requiring urgent medical care.
- a progressive inflammatory process in the bronchi, with coughing, increased breaths during exercise, when climbing stairs, sputum (with exacerbations - purulent), wheezing with prolonged exhalation. This disease develops primarily when smoking. Thus, shortness of breath in obstructive bronchitis and COPD has an expiratory character, as well as in asthma. Gradually formed. If a person with this disease quit smoking, for some time his shortness of breath may increase, but then become less pronounced.
Tracheobronchial dyskinesia is a narrowing of the airway lumen due to atrophy of their walls. Occurs after SARS, bronchitis, pneumonia or . The main symptoms are bouts of barking cough, sudden respiratory failure with difficulty exhaling at rest, fainting, wheezing.
- damage to the respiratory system by a pathogenic fungus from the genus Aspergillus. The symptoms of the disease are varied, but more typical is a severe course, fever, cough, dark sputum.
- a malignant tumor, initially asymptomatic or manifested by a constant "pneumonia". Then there is a cough (possible streaks of blood), weakness, increasing shortness of breath. Shortness of breath in lung cancer or metastases in them is accompanied by dizziness, sweating, weight loss.
A foreign body in the lumen of the bronchi causes a sudden "explosive" cough, and lack of air. If the foreign object is small, over time it causes increasing difficulty in breathing at rest, to the point of suffocation. More often, such shortness of breath is observed in a child who accidentally inhaled a small foreign body.

Diseases with restrictive DN

The cause of shortness of breath in pneumonia is the accumulation of fluid in the alveoli

These conditions reduce the surface of the alveoli. In them, gas exchange is disturbed, blood oxygen saturation suffers. Therefore, shortness of breath is usually constant, accompanied by a feeling of lack of air, difficulty breathing. It usually increases in the morning, when the patient begins to actively move. Possible reasons:

- acute infectious inflammation with fever, cough, chest pain; however, there are also less pronounced symptoms; diagnosed mainly; shortness of breath with pneumonia is a serious sign indicating a severe course of the disease;
emphysema of the lungs is caused by the expansion of the alveoli of a primary nature or in COPD, expansion and deformation of the chest are characteristic; shortness of breath with emphysema is constant and severe;
pneumosclerosis - replacement of the respiratory tissue of the lungs with connective tissue; accompanied by difficulty breathing when walking up the stairs, then with a slight load and at rest, cyanosis of the skin, difficulty in breathing, constant cough with a small amount of sputum;
- chronic specific inflammation, accompanied by prolonged fever, night sweats, cough, weakness, weight loss;
polycystic lung disease is a congenital disease, while a constant increase in breathing appears already in children, bronchitis and pneumonia often join;
exudative - accumulation of fluid in the pleural cavity with compression of the lung and the appearance of chest pains at first, and then increasing difficulty in breathing; symptoms are relieved by lying on the affected side;
spontaneous is accompanied by the appearance of a sharp lack of air, cough, chest pain, cold sweat appears, cyanosis, pressure drops; shortness of breath with pneumothorax is sudden and very strong, the condition requires urgent medical care;
curvature of the spine, with a pronounced degree, deforming the respiratory organs and making it difficult to breathe normally.

There are diseases that cause diffuse respiratory failure. It is characterized by a violation of the permeability of the alveolar walls for oxygen and the restriction of its entry into the blood. Of the most dangerous reasons, we note:

- occupational lung diseases in miners, metallurgists, etc.; accompanied by increased breaths when moving, coughing and chest pain;
Hamman-Rich syndrome - a disease of unknown nature, accompanied by increasing shortness of breath, cyanosis and paroxysmal cough, then heart failure occurs;
lung carcinomatosis is caused by cancerous metastases in them and is manifested by increasing difficulty in breathing and a bluish tint of the skin.

Shortness of breath with heart disease

What happens in heart failure

Acute heart failure (HF) develops suddenly or against the background of an existing chronic one. Its main forms are:

cardiac asthma - an attack of lack of air to the degree of suffocation, more often there is shortness of breath at night, in the supine position, it begins with a dry cough, forcing the patient to sit on the bed with his legs down; the skin is pale, breaths become more frequent up to 30 per minute or more;
manifested by suffocation, loud bubbling rales, intense cyanosis, the appearance of frothy sputum, often pink; the condition is life threatening.

Early stage chronic heart failure is a common cause of respiratory problems. Breathing is frequent and shallow, the muscles of the neck and abdomen are involved in it, cough is often added. Difficulty in breathing is caused by exercise - at first intense, then appears during normal walking, then becomes constant. Shortness of breath in heart failure is accompanied by other symptoms - chest pain, rhythm disturbance, increased pressure, edema, heaviness in the right hypochondrium, acrocyanosis (cyanosis of the hands, feet, lips). Often, it increases not only during exercise, but also after eating, as well as in the evening.

Heart disease that causes shortness of breath:

IHD: angina pectoris, myocardial infarction and postinfarction cardiosclerosis;
myocardial dystrophy and cardiomyopathy;
myocarditis, pericarditis;
hypertonic disease;
heart defects;
Ayers syndrome.

To diagnose these diseases, ECG, EchoCG, 24-hour Holter ECG monitoring, stress tests, coronary angiography and other cardiological studies are used. X-ray of the lungs is often normal, FVD changes little, which is used for differential diagnosis with diseases of the respiratory system.

Other causes of shortness of breath

Violation of breathing, its depth and rhythm, occurs with injuries and tumors of the brain. Diseases such as polio and myasthenia gravis are accompanied by weakness of the respiratory muscles.

Shortness of breath on exertion is often the most prominent symptom of anemia. In addition, it occurs with various types of intoxication, for example, with uremia or diabetic coma.

Finally, often rapid breathing appears with obesity. Only weight loss helps such patients get rid of this symptom, although they often seek help from cardiologists and are unsuccessfully treated.

Shortness of breath during early pregnancy is also often associated with anemia. In the 2nd and 3rd trimesters, it may increase due to the enlargement of the uterus and the limitation of the movements of the diaphragm.

There is also psychogenic shortness of breath associated with a neurotic state. It is often accompanied by yawning.

Research on shortness of breath

To find out the cause of this symptom, the doctor first of all differentiates diseases of the lungs and heart. General and biochemical blood tests are prescribed with the obligatory determination of the level of total protein, bilirubin, creatinine, glucose and cholesterol. The hospital conducts a blood gas test to diagnose respiratory failure. Also performed.

Instrumental methods that help in diagnosing the cause of shortness of breath:

electrocardiography;
research FVD;
echocardiography;
computed tomography of the chest.

The diagnostic scheme is chosen by the doctor, based on the data of the external examination, complaints, and the patient's history. In the future, the diagnostic search can be supplemented by more serious studies, such as catheterization of the heart cavities or lung biopsy.

Causes of shortness of breath: video

Breathing never causes special efforts and some kind of control if it occurs in the body of a healthy person. People just breathe the air and enjoy it. They inhale with joy and with some ecstasy pure mountain or sea air. In the forest, outside the city, in the garden, one breathes deeply, and all these ordinary actions cease to please as soon as shortness of breath begins. The causes of shortness of breath and its occurrence are varied. It is impossible to make an unambiguous diagnosis, relying only on shortness of breath, as a symptom of the disease.

Shortness of breath often appears unexpectedly. This is a pathology of breathing, inhalation and exhalation functions, a cardinal change in the frequency of breathing, a violation of the depth of inspiration. In other words, shortness of breath is the difficulty in passing air into or out of the lungs.

Medicine defines three types of shortness of breath:

Inspiratory - violation of the inspiratory phase
Expiratory - violation of the expiratory phase
Mixed - violation of all phases to varying degrees

One of the important aspects in the occurrence of shortness of breath is to identify the causes of its occurrence. This is a complex process based on a wide medical examination, as shortness of breath can have similar external signs.

The main symptoms of respiratory failure

Shortness of breath is the difficulty in passing air into or out of the lungs.

Usually, during an attack, breathing becomes wheezing or wheezing, sometimes such a phenomenon can frighten not only the patient, but also those who are nearby. At

In the chronic course of the disease, shortness of breath is just shallow breathing, occasional coughing, and a deviation from the norm in the number of respiratory movements. This can happen from several hours to several days.

The main symptoms of shortness of breath for various reasons may be:

Heaviness of breathing
Whistling
Wheezing
Rhythm disturbance
Lack of depth of breathing
Paleness or blueness of the skin
Inability to lie still
Breathlessness
Neck stretch
Change of breathing from thoracic to abdominal in adults (in children, vice versa)
Dizziness
Sometimes chest pain

Causes of shortness of breath

If any abnormalities in breathing appear, you should urgently consult a doctor in order to know what the essence is and not to miss the possibility of treatment at an early stage of the underlying disease. This will make it possible to avoid pathologies in the development of diseases. Moreover, shortness of breath is a symptom of a lack of oxygen in the body. And low oxygen content is fraught with many health problems.

There are many objective causes of respiratory failure.

When shortness of breath occurs, the brain, having received the appropriate signal, intensifies breathing, the process itself is not controlled by the human consciousness.

So, the first reason is a physiological violation of breathing. In this case, shortness of breath stops after some physical effort. Regular exercise and aerobic exercise will quickly, through training, cope with such a problem. It is constant training that will lead to getting rid of physiological shortness of breath.

The second cause of shortness of breath can be or emotional stress. With the production of adrenaline, shortness of breath appears. All this stimulates excitement, anxiety, fear, indignation. In such situations, adrenaline causes the person to pass through the lungs, causing hyperventilation. During experiences, shortness of breath is not terrible, but if panic attacks occur frequently, then the help of a psychotherapist is needed.

Another cause of difficulty breathing is anemia. A disease such as low iron levels in the human body is most common in women. A decrease in hemoglobin in the blood causes shortness of breath. In this case, you should follow the diet, which should contain a large amount of red meat. Iron and vitamin C supplements are often prescribed.

The fourth type of pathological shortness of breath can be called. This is a serious disease. Fat inside the body covers the internal organs, making breathing difficult. Due to the fat pad, a small amount of oxygen enters the organs.

This problem can be solved only with the help of nutritionists, and not with training in the gym. Everything should be done gradually, otherwise getting rid of fat intensively, it will be possible to earn more complex diseases.

One of the main causes of difficulty breathing is lung disease. Shortness of breath for this reason can be diverse: both expiratory and inspiratory.

Pulmonary shortness of breath of the inspiratory type most often occurs when the bronchi are clogged with mucus and sputum, this happens on the basis of tumors, pleurisy. With expiratory pulmonary dyspnea, bronchial asthma may be the cause. The minimum examination in case of respiratory failure are tests and a chest x-ray. In case of detection of serious diseases, other studies are carried out.

A common cause of dyspnea is cardiac ischemia. In this case, a person experiences some dissatisfaction with inhalation, he does not have enough air. At the same time, pain is felt in the left side of the chest. Sometimes pain with such shortness of breath gives to the jaw or temple. But sometimes painless ischemic shortness of breath occurs, then against the background of respiratory failure occurs. This is dangerous shortness of breath, often it indicates a myocardial infarction. It is most dangerous when it appears at a young age.

Often, respiratory failure occurs against the background of stagnation of cardiac activity, that is, with congestive heart failure. Typically, such shortness of breath occurs in patients in the supine position. When lifting or sitting down, the symptom of respiratory failure disappears. Roosevelt suffered from such shortness of breath. The reason for this is the increased blood flow to the heart and the overflow of the chambers. The treatment of such shortness of breath is complex and lengthy.

Shortness of breath at night or shortness of breath on the background of cardiac asthma occurs less frequently than all of the above. This shortness of breath is manifested by a sharp nocturnal suffocation. It does not go away from a change in the position of the human body, which often threatens life.

With attacks of such shortness of breath, the manifestation of blue skin, moist rales, and edema are characteristic. Such attacks require medical intervention. Only competent medical intervention can improve the quality of life. Such shortness of breath is not completely cured.

Shortness of breath based on pulmonary embolism is an infrequent but very dangerous phenomenon. The cause of such shortness of breath is deep vein thrombophlebitis, a disease related to varicose veins. The main signs of thromboembolism are: stabbing pain in the chest area, frequent excruciating cough, cyanosis of the face and severe shortness of breath. And the first signs of the disease are the usual frequent calf cramps and pain, accompanied by swelling.

Classification of dyspnea

Classify respiratory disorders according to the degree of duration of violations.

There are shortness of breath:

Chronic
subacute
Acute

Causes of different types of shortness of breath

Usually, the causes of acute shortness of breath, which occurs spontaneously and lasts no more than a few minutes, are the following causes in the form of pathologies and diseases:

Myocarditis
myocardium
Heart failure
Arrhythmia and angina pectoris
Allergy
Pulmonary edema
Pneumothorax
Entry of toxins into the body
Thromboembolism of the lungs
Atelectasis
Hyperventilation syndrome

Most often, shortness of breath of this type occurs in older people.

The causes of subacute shortness of breath, lasting several hours, may be the following diseases and pathologies:

Pneumonia of various kinds
metabolic acidosis
Pleurisy
Dysfunction of vocal chords
Recurrent thromboembolism
Uremia of various etiologies
Diaphragm paralysis

When a person experiences breathing disorders, asthma attacks and shortness of breath for a long period, then we are talking about a chronic form of shortness of breath, which occurs on the basis of:

Heart disease
Kyphoscoliosis
Emphysema
lung cancer
Chronic diseases of the bronchi and lungs
heart failure
coronary disease
Cardiomyopathy

Difficulties in breathing, shortness of breath and lack of air are often characteristic of diseases such as Guillain-Barré syndrome, anemia, and thyroid disease.
There are shortness of breath with a noisy exhalation - stridor. Stridor is observed in some diseases:

Diphtheria
Abscess after tonsillitis
Spasm of the vocal cords
Cancer of the larynx
Throat swelling

There is shortness of breath called terminal. This respiratory disorder appears in seriously ill people doomed to death. It is this shortness of breath that is the herald of death.

If there is a violation of breathing, periodically there is shortness of breath of a different plan, you should contact your doctor for help, undergo an examination and take tests. Only a specialist doctor can correctly diagnose and prescribe treatment.

Learn from the video about the causes of shortness of breath:

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