The doctors found that the most common complaint of patients seeking help is dyspnea or shortness of breath - let's consider what causes this phenomenon.
Patients suffering from shortness of breath describe their discomfort as "not enough air," "hard in the chest," "the lungs are not completely filled with air."
By the way, when studying the causes of shortness of breath and lack of air until the 17th century, the term "asthma", first used by Hippocrates, was used. Now the concepts of asthma and dyspnea are strictly differentiated.
Types of dyspnea
Depending on the duration of the dyspnoea, shortness of breath is classified into:
- chronic - worried for several years;
- subacute - the patient is sick for several days;
- acute - observed within a few minutes.
It is worth noting that if dyspnoea is worried about prolonged walking or running, the cause of this phenomenon should not be looked for - any strong load affects the change in breathing. But if the air is not enough at rest, it is worth to see a doctor, because dyspnoea is a companion of many diseases.
Causes of acute dyspnea
Spontaneous breathing disorder, lasting several minutes, can be triggered by the following diseases and pathologies:
- myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle);
- myocardial infarction;
- heart rhythm disorder;
- left ventricular failure;
- cardial edema of the lungs;
- pneumothorax (congestion in the pleural air region);
- bronchial asthma;
- allergy;
- inhalation of toxic fumes;
- atelectasis (lung lobes drop);
- thromboembolism of pulmonary arteries;
- acute hyperventilation syndrome.
As you can see, labored breathing can be caused by a malfunction in the work of the cardiovascular or respiratory system. It is especially difficult to differentiate these two categories of causes of dyspnea in the elderly.
Causes of subacute dyspnea
The feeling of discomfort during breathing and lack of air, lasting several hours, can talk about the following diseases and pathologies:
- pleural effusion;
- pneumonia;
- metabolic acidosis;
- paralysis of the diaphragm;
- uremia;
- dysfunction of vocal chords;
- recurrent thromboembolism of pulmonary arteries.
Sometimes the causes of severe dyspnea lie in the action of medications (overdose, allergy, side effects) and poisons.
Causes of chronic dyspnoea
If a person for many months or years complains of difficulty breathing at rest or under a weak physical exertion, the causes of dyspnea in this case may be related to the presence of the following diseases:
- heart disease;
- Myxoma (benign tumor in the atria);
- cardiac ischemia;
- heart failure of chronic form;
- cardiomyopathy (structural changes in the heart muscle);
- chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ;
- tuberculosis;
- lung cancer;
- emphysema of the lungs;
- kyphoscoliosis;
- pneumoconiosis (pulmonary fibrosis due to prolonged inhalation of dust).
Also, the causes of chronic dyspnea may be associated with diseases of the pulmonary vessels, namely, primary pulmonary hypertension; arteriovenous aneurysm; vasculitis; thromboembolic pulmonary arteries.
Difficulty breathing and lack of air is also characteristic for:
- obesity;
- anemia ;
- ascites;
- thyroid gland diseases;
- Guillain-Barre syndrome;
- myasthenia gravis.
Other types of dyspnoea
Difficulty breathing sometimes expressed in a phenomenon such as stridor - in this case, shortness of breath is accompanied by a noisy breath.
Stridor, as a rule, indicates obstruction (obstruction) of the upper respiratory tract and is observed when:
- laryngospasm;
- swelling of the larynx;
- diphtheria;
- cancer of the larynx;
- tonsillar abscess.
In addition, doctors allocate the so-called terminal dyspnoea - it is a sign of an imminent death in seriously ill patients.