Shortness of breath

 Shortness of breath

Overview

Dyspnea (pronounced “DISP-nee-uh”) is the word healthcare providers use for feeling short of breath. You might describe it as not being able to get enough air (“air hunger”), chest tightness or working harder to breathe.

Shortness of breath is often a symptom of heart and lung problems. But it can also be a sign of other conditions like asthma, allergies or anxiety. Intense exercise or having a cold can also make you feel breathless.

Symptoms

Shortness of breath can feel different from person to person and depending on what’s causing it. Sometimes, it comes with other symptoms.

Some signs of dyspnea include:

Chest tightness.

Feeling like you need to force yourself to breathe deeply.

Working hard to get a deep breath.

Rapid breathing (tachypnea) or heart rate (palpitations).

Wheezing or stridor (noisy breathing)

Causes

What causes shortness of breath (dyspnea)?

Exercise, illness and health conditions can cause shortness of breath. The most common causes of dyspnea are heart and lung conditions.

How do heart and lung conditions cause shortness of breath?

Your heart and lungs work together to bring oxygen to your blood and tissues and remove carbon dioxide. If one or the other isn’t working right, you can end up with too little oxygen or too much carbon dioxide in your blood.

When this happens, your body tells you to breathe harder to get more oxygen in or carbon dioxide out. Anything that makes your body need more oxygen — like a good workout or being at high altitudes — can also make this happen.

Your brain can also get the message that your lungs aren’t working right. This might make you feel like you’re working harder to breathe or give you a feeling of tightness in your chest. Causes for this include:

Irritation in your lungs.

Restriction in the way your lungs move when you breathe.

Resistance in air movement into your lungs (from blocked or narrow airways).

What health conditions cause shortness of breath (dyspnea)?

Heart or lung disease and other conditions can cause shortness of breath.

Lung and airway conditions

Asthma.

Allergies.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Respiratory illness (like bronchitis, COVID-19, the flu or other viral or bacterial infections).

Pneumonia.

Inflammation (pleurisy) or fluid (pleural effusion) around your lungs.

Fluid (pulmonary edema) or scarring (fibrosis) inside your lungs.

Lung cancer or pleural mesothelioma.

High blood pressure in your lungs (pulmonary hypertension).

Sarcoidosis.

Tuberculosis.

Partial or complete collapsed lung (pneumothorax or atelectasis).

Blood clot (pulmonary embolism).

Choking.

Heart and blood conditions

Anemia.

Heart failure.

Conditions that affect your heart muscle (cardiomyopathy).

Abnormal heart rhythm (arrhythmia).

Inflammation in or around your heart (endocarditis, pericarditis or myocarditis).

Other conditions

Anxiety.

Injury that makes breathing difficult (like a broken rib).

Medication. Statins (cholesterol-lowering drugs) and beta-blockers (used to treat high blood pressure) are two types of medications that can cause dyspnea.

Extreme temperatures (being very hot or very cold).

Body mass index (BMI) over 30.

Lack of exercise (muscle deconditioning).

Sleep apnea can cause paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea (PND).

Care and Treatment

How do I know what’s causing my shortness of breath?

To try to figure out what’s causing your dyspnea, your healthcare provider will perform a physical exam, including listening to your lungs with a stethoscope and taking your blood pressure. They’ll put a sensor on your finger to see how much oxygen you have in your blood.

They may also do additional testing, including:

Chest X-ray, CT scans or other special imaging tests. Your provider can use pictures of the inside of your chest to know if there’s an issue with your lungs.

Blood tests. Your provider can use blood tests to look for anemia or illnesses.

Lung function tests. Tests that indicate how well you’re breathing.

Cardiopulmonary exercise testing. Your provider will have you use a treadmill or stationary bike for this test. The tests can tell your provider the amount of oxygen you take in and carbon dioxide you let out during exercise.

How is shortness of breath (dyspnea) treated?

How you treat shortness of breath depends on what’s causing it. If you have an underlying medical condition, you’ll need to address it for your symptoms to improve.

Treatments that can improve your breathing include:

Exercise. Exercise can strengthen your heart and lungs so they don’t have to work as hard.

Relaxation techniques. Your provider can give you relaxation techniques and breathing exercises to practice. These can help with dyspnea from underlying breathing conditions, as well as anxiety.

Medication. Inhaled drugs called bronchodilators can relax your airways and are prescribed for asthma and COPD. Medication to relieve pain or anxiety can help with breathlessness.

Oxygen therapy. Your healthcare provider will prescribe extra oxygen if your blood oxygen level is too low. It’s delivered through a mask or tube in your nose.

Type of Doctor Department : A pulmonologist