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A person should breathe easily. Nature is arranged in such a way that breathing is an absolutely painless and imperceptible process. We just breathe and that's it, because if we stop breathing, a very life-threatening condition will arise.

But these are extremes. But shortness of breath, commonly called "shortness of breath", a person can have. This state of the body can be triggered by both external and internal factors.

Causes of heavy breathing

If the oxygen received by the human body is not enough, heavy breathing occurs. The most common causes of heavy breathing are:

Nervousness- this, unfortunately, is an integral attribute of any work, and often family life. When you get stressed, you tend to start yelling and talking at a faster pace than you normally would.

This condition may cause you to there will be a lack of oxygen and you will need to breathe in more frequently. However, it's inconvenient, right?

How to get out of this situation? Shut up, calm down and take a few deep breaths through the nose and exhale through the mouth. Not enough? Didn't get your breath back?

Do this exercise until everything is restored. By the way, along with breathing, in this way, you will restore the heart rate, and hence the general calmness.

Allergy as a cause of heavy breathing

If you find it hard to breathe, the reasons may lie not only in a nervous state, but also in allergies for anything. It's simple: you inhale the smell from the allergen, which irritates the airways and leads to spasm, which, in turn, turns the breathing process from uncontrolled to conscious.

If you feel that it is difficult for you to breathe, and you think that this is the reason, as soon as possible eliminate the effect of the allergen: get away from unfamiliar irritating smells, stop eating food that you have never eaten before and what you think you may be allergic to. If the allergen is some kind of drink - refuse it.

Sometimes it is not possible to immediately recognize the allergen, and the pathological condition must be eliminated as soon as possible. In this case, try opening a window and let in Fresh air from the street. Clear their lungs, and you will see how the situation immediately begins to turn for the better.

Small correction: don't open the window if it's spring and you know you're allergic to spring! This will only make your condition worse. In this case, create fresh air at home: turn on a fan or an air ionizer. Can take an antihistamine- claritin, suprastin, zyrtec, zodak or the like.

Serenity is important factor to eliminate heavy breathing with allergies. Oddly enough, one thing gives rise to another: you feel like it’s hard for you to breathe, you don’t know what to do, hence the body’s natural reaction is stress, which, in turn, also gives rise to heavy breathing. If you can calm down, you will do 50% of the work to normalize the situation.

Medical Causes of Heavy Breathing

There are a number of pathological conditions in which difficulty breathing can occur, and which, as a rule, require urgent and proper care. Let's try to understand the medical causes of difficulty breathing in an adult, as well as ways to eliminate such conditions.

Bronchial asthma. Heavy breathing may be due to the presence of bronchial asthma in a person. If you have been exposed to this formidable diagnosis, you should always have an inhaler with a drug with you.

Sometimes an asthma attack develops so rapidly that a person can lose consciousness. Be sure to carry a note with you indicating where the medicine is located and how to use it, so that others, finding you in a helpless state, can correctly and competently provide the necessary assistance.

Disease with a similar name bronchitis is an inflammation of the bronchi; pathological condition, accompanied by a strong cough, which, in turn, causes heavy breathing. This is a pathology that needs to be treated with medication.

If you think that this is the cause of heavy breathing, immediately see a doctor so that he prescribes adequate therapy that will alleviate your condition.

Anemia

Anemia- this is a state of the body in which the blood formula changes in such a way that a person has fewer red blood cells and hemoglobin. Such a diagnosis entails rapid and easy breathing.

The causes of anemia can be very diverse. Here is an example of what anemia can be:

iron deficiency;
B12-deficient;
folic acid deficiency;
hemolytic.

Only a doctor can make such a diagnosis for you, he is also prescribes appropriate therapy to eliminate the causes of anemia, and, accordingly, heavy breathing.

Pregnancy

Heavy breathing may not appear in the first trimester pregnancy. However, you may suffer from this problem after 4-5 months. At this time, the child is actively growing, due to this, the diaphragm of the pregnant woman rises higher and higher.

The respiratory system switches to an enhanced mode of operation and it can often become difficult to breathe precisely for this reason.

Perhaps, pregnancy- this is the only reason that can not be eliminated on its own. It remains to advise in this case rest more, not carry burdens and, in general, not to do what the body considers hard work for itself.

Obesity

There is such a thing as "body mass index". It can be low, normal, or high. In the latter case, a person has obesity - a condition when the body weight is more than it should be in accordance with the parameters of height and age.

Obesity may be pathological, psychological or natural. In the first case, the weight gain is influenced by the disease factor, which must be eliminated. The second case may be due to psychological trauma. And, finally, in the latter case, obesity is natural - just a person wants to be fat and consciously goes towards this goal.

However, whatever obesity, it inevitably leads to immobility of the respiratory muscles. Shortness of breath, which at first manifests itself only with strong physical exertion, can later become your “good” friend and life partner.

How to get rid? Lose extra weight! If it is due to medical factors, treat the disease. Remove the trauma factor or work with a nutritionist to return to a normal diet that will keep you invigorated in body and mind.

Smoking: nicotine as a cause of heavy breathing

Smoking This is one of the worst habits. Nicotine affects the lungs, becoming the main cause of difficulty breathing in adults. Regardless of the number of cigarettes smoked per day, to eliminate the cause of heavy breathing I just need to quit smoking. At all. Reduce the number of cigarettes you smoke to zero.

First Aid for Difficulty Breathing

Respiratory pathology can be a sign of formidable diseases that are life-threatening. For example, pre-fainting state, pre-infarction state, cardiac arrhythmias. These are all conditions that require urgent qualified intervention.

It's difficult to breathe? Firstly, do not worry, and secondly, clearly define the factor that caused this pathology. If it is possible to fix the problem on your own, you need to take all measures to normalize breathing as soon as possible, otherwise seek qualified help.

The medical name for shortness of breath is dyspnea. International classifiers distinguish two main types of such a state:

Tachypnea - rapid shallow breathing with a respiratory rate of more than 20 per minute.
Bradypnea is a decrease in respiratory function with a slowing of the respiratory rate to 12 or less movements per minute.

According to the time interval and intensity of the course of shortness of breath, there are three main subspecies of dyspnea:

Acute (from a couple of minutes to hours).
Subacute (from several hours to a couple of days).
Chronic (from 3-5 days to several years).

Shortness of breath is a typical symptom of heart failure - this clinical syndrome is characterized by abnormalities in the work of the SJS, poor blood supply to the tissues / organs of the system and, ultimately, myocardial damage.

In addition to shortness of breath, a patient with heart failure feels very tired, he has swelling and significantly reduced physical activity. Stagnation of blood due to a weakened heart muscle provokes hypoxia, acidosis and other negative manifestations in metabolism.

If you have a suspicion of heart failure, you should immediately contact a cardiologist and take measures to maximally quickly stabilize hemodynamics, from increasing blood pressure and normalizing the heart rhythm to stopping pain syndrome- often, CH causes.

Physiological - strong physical activity.
Cardiac - pulmonary edema, myocardial infarction, myocarditis, cardiac arrhythmias, myxomas, cardiomyopathy, heart defects, coronary artery disease, chronic heart failure.
Respiratory - epiglottitis, allergic reactions, bronchial asthma, atelectasis and pneumothorax, enphysema, tuberculosis, COPD, poisoning with various gases, kyphoscoliosis, interstitial diseases, pneumonia, lung obstruction, cancer.
Vascular - thromboembolism, primary hypertension, vasculitis, arterial-venous aneurysms.
Neuromuscular - lateral sclerosis, paralysis of the diaphragmatic nerve, myasthenia gravis.
Other causes are ascites, thyroid problems, anemia, dysfunction of the respiratory system, metabolic spectrum acidosis, uremia, dysfunction of the vocal chords, preural effusions, pericardium, hyperventilation syndromes.
Other circumstances.

Symptoms

Symptoms of shortness of breath can be varied, but in any case associated with a violation of the normal rhythm of the respiratory function. In particular, the depth and frequency of respiratory contractions noticeably change, from a sharp increase in respiratory rate to its decrease to zero. Subjectively, the patient feels an acute lack of air, tries to breathe deeper or vice versa, as superficially as possible.

In the case of inspiratory dyspnea, it is difficult to inhale, and the process of getting air into the lungs is accompanied by noise. With expiratory shortness of breath, it is much more difficult to exhale, as the lumen of the bronchioles and the smallest particles of the bronchi are narrowed. Mixed type of dyspnea is the most dangerous and often causes complete cessation of breathing.

The main diagnostic measures are the most rapid assessment of the current clinical picture in the patient, as well as the study of the history of the disease. After that, additional studies are assigned (from x-rays and ultrasound to tomograms, tests, etc.) and referrals to highly specialized specialists are issued. Most often, they are a pulmonologist, a cardiologist and a neuropathologist.

Since shortness of breath can be caused by a huge number of a wide variety of reasons, its treatment is selected only after the correct determination of the exact diagnosis through a comprehensive diagnosis of possible problems.

Conservative and medical treatment

Below are the typical causes of shortness of breath and how to deal with them.

In the presence of a foreign body, it is removed using the Heimlich technique, in extreme cases, a surgical method is used, in particular tracheostomy.
In bronchial asthma - selective beta-agonists (Salbutamol), intravenous administration of aminophylline.
Left ventricular failure - narcotic analgesics, diuretics, venous vesodilators (Nitroglycerin).
The absence of visible causes or the impossibility of differential diagnosis with severe shortness of breath at the prehospital stage - Lasix.
The neurogenic nature of the symptom - breathing exercises, intravenous Diazepam.
Obstructions - taking anxiolytics, direct oxygen administration, non-invasive respiratory support, surgical reduction (for enphysema), creating a positive vector of pressure on inhalation and exhalation in the patient.

Treatment of shortness of breath folk remedies

The following measures will help reduce the frequency and intensity of dyspnea attacks:

Hot goat's milk on an empty stomach - 1 cup with a dessert spoon of honey, three times a day for the 1st week.
Dry dill in the amount of 2 teaspoons / glass brew with boiling water, strain, cool for half an hour and take warm ½ cup three times a day for two weeks.
Take a liter of flower honey, Scroll ten peeled small heads of garlic in a meat grinder and squeeze the juice of ten lemons. Mix all the ingredients thoroughly, place under a closed lid in a jar for a week. Consume 4 teaspoons. spoons once a day, preferably in the morning and on an empty stomach for two months.

What to do and where to go if shortness of breath appears?

First of all - don't panic! Carefully examine your condition for the presence of other symptoms - if dyspnea is accompanied by pain in the heart or a region close to it, and there is also a fainting state, the skin turns blue, and auxiliary muscle groups, for example, intercostal, pectoral, cervical, also participate in the breathing process, then an ambulance should be called immediately, as shortness of breath can be of a cardiovascular or pulmonary nature.

In other cases, try to temporarily avoid strong physical exertion and prolonged exposure to direct sunlight, make an appointment with a therapist or pulmonologist. Specialists will conduct an initial assessment of the state of health, write out referrals for diagnostic measures, or ask additional doctors (cardiologist, vascular surgeon, oncologist, neurologist) to go through.

Useful video

Shortness of breath is a dangerous symptom

How easy is it to get rid of shortness of breath?

Probably, almost everyone knows the feeling of lack of air when the elevator stopped working, and you have to go up to the ninth floor, or when you run after the bus because you are late for work ... But breathing problems can occur even at rest. What are the symptoms and causes of shortness of breath? What to do if there is not enough air?

Why is there not enough air when breathing

Difficulty breathing, which is called shortness of breath or dyspnea, has many causes that affect both the airways and the lungs and heart. Shortness of breath can be caused by various factors - for example, increased physical activity, stress, respiratory diseases. If your breathing can be described as rapid and noisy, the depth of inhalation and exhalation changes periodically, if sometimes there is a feeling of lack of air, then you need to understand the situation, since such symptoms can be dangerous to health and indicate serious diseases.

The most common causes of shortness of breath are:

Unhealthy Lifestyle;
poorly ventilated area;
lung diseases;
heart diseases;
psychosomatic disorders (for example, vegetovascular dystonia);
chest injury.

Let's consider each of the reasons in more detail.

Shortness of breath due to lifestyle

If you don't have heart or lung disease, you may have trouble breathing because you're not active enough. Here are some tips to help prevent the symptoms of shortness of breath.

When shortness of breath occurs during physical activity, such as when running or walking for a long time, this indicates insufficient physical training or being overweight. Try to play sports and reconsider your diet - with a lack of nutrients, lack of air is also not uncommon.
Shortness of breath is a common occurrence in smokers, since the respiratory system is extremely vulnerable when smoking. In this case, it is possible to breathe in deeply, only by overcoming a bad habit. Doctors also recommend taking x-rays of the lungs once a year, regardless of whether there are health problems or not.
Frequent alcohol consumption can also cause shortness of breath, as alcohol negatively affects the cardiovascular system and increases the likelihood of a heart attack, heart rhythm disturbances, and other diseases.
Do not exclude the possibility of shortness of breath and with emotional upheaval or frequent stress. For example, panic attacks are accompanied by the release of adrenaline into the blood, after which the tissues require more oxygen and the person suffocates. Frequent yawning also indicates health problems - it is a sign of brain hypoxia.

Shortness of breath due to a poorly ventilated area

As you know, in a residential area - a constant companion of bad mood and headache. However, an excess of carbon dioxide has more serious consequences - fainting, impaired memory and concentration, sleep disturbances and constant lack of air. To work productively, you need a constant flow of air from the street. that it can be difficult to regularly ventilate the house: in winter, for example, too cold air enters through an open window, so there is a chance of getting sick. Noise from the street or insufficiently clean air on the other side of the window can also interfere with comfortable well-being. The best way out in such a situation would be with air purification and heating systems. It is worth mentioning about, with which you can remotely control climate devices and measure the level of CO2, temperature and humidity.

Shortness of breath due to impaired lung function

Very often, lack of air is associated with pulmonary diseases. People with impaired lung function experience severe shortness of breath on exertion. During exercise, the body releases more and consumes more oxygen. The respiratory center in the brain accelerates breathing when the oxygen level in the blood is low or when the carbon dioxide content is high. If the lungs are not functioning normally, even a small amount of effort can greatly increase the breathing rate. Shortness of breath is so unpleasant that patients specifically avoid any physical activity. With serious pulmonary pathologies, air deficiency occurs even at rest.

Lack of air can be the result of:

restrictive (or restrictive) respiratory disorders - the lungs cannot fully expand when breathing, therefore, their volume decreases, and a sufficient amount of oxygen does not enter the tissues;
obstructive respiratory disorders - for example,. In such diseases, the airways narrow and require considerable effort to expand when breathing. Asthmatics with shortness of breath during an attack are usually advised by doctors to keep an inhaler handy.

Shortness of breath in heart disease

One of the common cardiac disorders that negatively affects the depth and intensity of breathing is heart failure. The heart supplies blood to organs and tissues. If the heart is not pumping enough blood (i.e., heart failure occurs), fluid builds up in the lungs, gas exchange deteriorates, and a disorder called pulmonary edema occurs. Pulmonary edema just causes shortness of breath, which is often accompanied by a feeling of suffocation or heaviness in the chest.

Some people with heart failure have orthopnea and/or paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea. Orthopnea is shortness of breath that occurs when you lie down. People with this disorder are forced to sleep sitting up. Paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea is a sudden severe shortness of breath that occurs during sleep and is accompanied by the awakening of the patient. This disorder is an extreme form of orthopnea. Also, paroxysmal nocturnal shortness of breath is a sign of severe heart failure.

Lack of air can occur with a sharp increase in blood pressure if you are hypertensive. High pressure leads to an overload of the heart, disruption of its functions and a feeling of lack of oxygen. The causes of shortness of breath can also be tachycardia, myocardial infarction, coronary heart disease and other cardiovascular pathologies. In any case, only an experienced doctor can make an accurate diagnosis and prescribe the appropriate treatment.

Shortness of breath with anemia (anemia)

With anemia, a person has a low hemoglobin level and a reduced number of red blood cells. Since hemoglobin and red blood cells carry oxygen from the lungs to the tissues, when they are deficient, the amount of oxygen supplied by the blood decreases. Patients feel especially acute lack of air during physical activity, because the blood cannot deliver elevated level oxygen needed by the body. In addition to shortness of breath, symptoms include headache, loss of strength, impaired concentration and memory. The main way to get rid of the lack of air in anemia is to eliminate the root cause, i.e. restore the level of hemoglobin and erythrocytes in the blood.

Shortness of breath with vegetovascular dystonia

Vegetovascular dystonia is a disorder of the autonomic nervous system. Usually patients complain of a feeling of a lump in the throat, rapid breathing, a feeling of lack of air. Respiratory disorders are aggravated by conditions that require tension of the nervous system: passing an exam, an interview, speaking in public, etc. The causes of vegetovascular dystonia can be excessive mental, physical or emotional stress, hormonal disruptions, chronic diseases.

One of the most common manifestations of vascular dystonia is hyperventilation syndrome, which leads to "excessive breathing". Many mistakenly believe that hyperventilation is a lack of oxygen. In fact, hyperventilation syndrome is a lack of carbon dioxide in the blood. When a person with this syndrome breathes too fast, they exhale more carbon dioxide than they need. A decrease in the level of carbon dioxide in the blood leads to the fact that hemoglobin is firmly combined with oxygen and the latter hardly enters the tissues. With pronounced symptoms of shortness of breath, doctors recommend breathing into a bag tightly pressed to the mouth. The exhaled air will accumulate in the bag, and by inhaling it again, the patient will make up for the CO2 deficiency.

Other diseases

Shortness of breath can be caused by a violation of the integrity of the chest. With various injuries (for example, with a fracture of the ribs), a feeling of lack of air occurs due to pronounced pain in the chest. Difficulty breathing can also be caused by other ailments, such as diabetes or allergies. In this case, a comprehensive examination and treatment by a specialized specialist is required. Getting rid of breathing problems is possible only if the source of the disease is neutralized.

As we found out, the way to get rid of shortness of breath depends entirely on its cause. Each of the diseases that can provoke difficulty in breathing requires an individual approach, the delivery of certain tests and the passage of various examinations. If you feel that in addition to shortness of breath you are worried about something else, then the therapy should be prescribed by a doctor and only a doctor - no need to self-medicate! If an attack of shortness of breath caught you by surprise, you should stop any physical activity. If the condition lasts more than 10 minutes, you need to call an ambulance.

Another disease can develop from excess weight, an inactive lifestyle, heredity, and for other reasons. With a healthy airway, a person has no unpleasant symptoms, and breathing is silent and effortless. With normal breathing, a person should have 15-18 breaths per minute. If the patient has a violation of the airway, then the person begins to breathe more often and harder.

Etiology

Heavy breathing in a child and an adult can be triggered by the development of various pathologies, for example, of an infectious nature. Also, the cause of the manifestation of such a symptom can be such etiological factors, or rather, diseases:

or ;
violation of the structure of the respiratory tract;
rheumatic heart disease.

A common cause of symptoms in adults and children is a long stay in the same position of the body.

The following etiological factors can also provoke difficult breathing:

sport;
constant fatigue;
vascular spasms of the brain.

In addition to the pathological condition, such a symptom can also develop according to the physiological characteristics of the body. In this case, difficulty breathing manifests itself exclusively in childhood, when the baby is not yet one and a half years old. A sign is formed from the high elasticity of tissues in the airways. By the age of 1.5, the structure of the cartilage of the larynx thickens, and breathing normalizes.

In older children, a symptom may appear from various bacterial and viral infections:

In adult women, the cause of difficulty breathing also lies in pregnancy. During this period, a strong load is exerted on the entire body, especially on the respiratory system. The fetus grows and the uterus increases, which begins to put pressure on the diaphragm. After the birth of a child, breathing returns to normal, so during pregnancy you should not worry about the appearance of such a symptom.

Symptoms

With heavy inhalation and exhalation, children and adults may complain of various additional symptoms. During difficult breathing, the patient manifests the following clinical picture:

sensation;
choking cough;
anxiety and.

When a person does not have enough air, his brain slows down. He takes words and questions hard and slowly, all brain activity slows down a little.

Diagnostics

If such an unpleasant symptom occurs for no good reason, the patient should urgently seek help from doctors. Also, a factor for contacting a specialist may be such manifestations:

lack of air at rest;
painful swallowing;
feeling of a foreign body in the throat;
allergies;
wheezing.

During diagnostic measures, the physician must take an anamnesis, conduct a physical examination. The doctor needs to identify such points:

the presence of wheezing;
symptom duration;
lack of air at rest or during exercise;
symptom progression;
injury.

If the initial examination did not provide the doctor with the exact causes of difficulty breathing, then the patient is assigned the following laboratory and instrumental examinations:

blood analysis;
radiography;
tomography;
spirometry;

Treatment

The principles of symptom elimination depend entirely on the identified cause. If the usual physiological factors became the cause, then doctors advise not to allow the throat to dry out. To do this, you need to humidify the air with special devices or carry out daily wet cleaning.

If the cause of the development of the symptom was not very serious infectious diseases, then difficulty breathing can be dealt with with the help of inhalations. Doctors recommend them to be carried out on the basis of mineral waters, a solution of baking soda, water vapor. You can also do:

mustard plasters on the chest;
warm baths for hands and feet.

If the cause of difficulty breathing is an allergic reaction, then first of all you need to rid the patient of the allergen. It is also allowed to use vasoconstrictor drops and take antihistamines.

take a lying or sitting position and maintain a flat back with a pillow, it is important that the shoulders are laid back;
put your palms on the lower part of the chest;
breathe through the nose.

When heavy breathing appears, doctors recommend using this exercise every hour several times throughout the day. All deep breaths should be taken carefully so as not to provoke dizziness. After the exercise, you need a short rest to fully normalize breathing.

Prevention

Air shortage can be prevented simple methods. For the risk group, people who have allergies or infectious diseases, it is recommended to give up bad habits, engage in light sports, and regularly attend a mandatory medical examination.

Many people are familiar with shortness of breath in our time: it occurs during active physical exertion or when experiencing strong emotions.

As a rule, after a person calms down and breathing quickly returns to normal, a healthy person forgets about it. This is a normal manifestation of physiological shortness of breath. Only if shortness of breath began to cause discomfort, it is worth considering a visit to the doctor.

What discomfort can people experience from shortness of breath, what causes shortness of breath and lack of air? Painful shortness of breath manifests itself in different ways: there is a feeling of lack of air and heaviness of the chest, a feeling that the air does not completely fill the lungs, it is difficult to breathe.

What it is

Shortness of breath or orthopnea is a feeling of lack of air, which manifests itself in a patient with a feeling of tightness in the chest.

Shortness of breath is understood as the following changes in the clinic - an increase in the depth and frequency of breathing more than 18 per minute. A healthy person does not notice his own breathing - for him it is a natural process.

A heavy load, for example, when running, causes a change in the depth and frequency of breathing, but this condition does not create discomfort, and all indicators return to normal within a few minutes.

If shortness of breath manifests itself when performing normal household activities, and even worse - at the slightest load or at rest, then we are talking already about pathological shortness of breath - a symptom of a disease.

Classification

By manifestation, shortness of breath can be divided into:

subjective- described by patients with psychosomatic conditions and neurological diseases;
objective- which the patient may not feel, but it is manifested by a change in respiratory rate, breathing rhythm, inhalation / exhalation depth;
Combined- felt by the patient and confirmed objectively.

Based on the patient's complaints, 5 degrees of severity of dyspnea of people were developed, presented in this table.

What causes this pathological and unpleasant condition?

The reasons

The main causes of shortness of breath can be divided into 4 groups:

Respiratory failure resulting from diseases of the bronchi and lungs;
Heart failure;
Occurring with neurosis and neurocirculatory dystonia;
resulting from anemia and hypoxia.

Shortness of breath in lung diseases

Shortness of breath is observed in almost all diseases of the bronchi and lungs. It can occur acutely (as in pleurisy or pneumothorax), or it can last for weeks, months, or even years (COPD or COPD).

In COPD, shortness of breath occurs as a result of narrowing of the lumen of the airways and the accumulation of secretions in them. It is expiratory in nature and in the absence of treatment becomes more pronounced. Often it is combined with a cough with sputum.

Bronchial asthma is characterized by sudden attacks of suffocation. Such shortness of breath also has an expiratory character: when a light breath is followed by a labored exhalation. Breathing normalizes only when inhaled drugs that expand the bronchi. Attacks usually occur as a result of contact with allergens.

Frequent shortness of breath without exertion is a constant companion of infectious diseases - bronchitis and pneumonia, it also occurs with a common cold. The severity depends on the course of the disease and the extent of the process.

In addition to shortness of breath, these diseases are characterized by:

Temperature rise;
Weakness and sweating;
Cough dry or with phlegm;
Pain in the chest.

With the treatment of these diseases, shortness of breath disappears within a few days. In severe cases, a complication may occur - heart failure.

Tumors in the initial stages do not have severe symptoms.

If they are not detected during a diagnostic examination, they begin to grow and, upon reaching a large size, cause characteristic symptoms:

Gradually increasing shortness of breath;
Cough with little sputum;
Hemoptysis;
Pain in the chest area;
Weakness, pallor, weight loss.

Conditions that also present with dyspnea, such as pulmonary embolism, localized airway obstruction, or toxic pulmonary edema, are most life-threatening.

PE is a pathology when the pulmonary artery becomes clogged with blood clots and part of the lungs ceases to function. PE is manifested by sudden shortness of breath, which begins to bother a person even when performing minor actions or at rest. Along with this symptom, the patient is tormented by a feeling of suffocation, chest pain, and sometimes hemoptysis. The disease is confirmed by ECG, X-ray and angiopulmography.

Asphyxiation is also manifested by obstruction of the airways. Shortness of breath in this disease is inspiratory in nature, noisy breathing can even be heard at a distance.

When changing the position of the body, the patient often begins to cough painfully. The disease is diagnosed after radiography, tomography, spirometry and bronchoscopy.

Cause of difficulty breathing:

Obstruction of the respiratory tract as a result of its compression from the outside;
Tumor of the trachea or bronchi;
Ingress of a foreign body;
development of cicatricial stenosis.

It is necessary to treat the disease by restoring the patency of the airways by surgery.

As a result of exposure to toxic substances (with poisoning by salicylates, methyl alcohol, ethylene glycol, carbon monoxide) or with a prolonged infectious disease, toxic pulmonary edema may occur.

Initially, the disease is manifested by rapid breathing and shortness of breath, but after a while, shortness of breath is replaced by suffocation with bubbling breathing. The disease recedes after detoxification.

Also shortness of breath are manifested:

Pneumothorax - a condition when air penetrates and remains in the pleural cavity, squeezing the lung and not allowing to breathe;
Tuberculosis- an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis;
Actinomycosis - fungal pathology;
Emphysema- a pathology in which the alveoli are stretched, losing the ability to exchange gases;
Silicosis- a group of occupational lung diseases that develop as a result of dust deposition in the lung tissue;
scoliosis, pathology of the thoracic vertebrae, osteochondrosis of the thoracic spine, ankylosing spondylitis - a change in the shape of the chest makes breathing difficult, causing shortness of breath.

Treatment of shortness of breath in all pulmonary diseases begins with the treatment of the underlying disease, accompanied by maintaining the patency of the respiratory tract and reducing the load on the respiratory system.

Shortness of breath in cardiovascular pathologies

Shortness of breath is one of the most common symptoms of developing heart disease. In the initial stages of the disease, it manifests itself when walking fast or during other physical exertion, but with the progression of the disease, it begins to appear even with the slightest movement: when walking, when talking, while coughing and at rest. In the end, there is shortness of breath at rest.

With advanced disease, shortness of breath can begin to develop even at night during sleep (nocturnal cardiac asthma) and manifest itself in the morning. Causes its stagnation of fluid in the lungs. Accompanied by a state of severe fatigue, blue body parts, swelling of the extremities, pulse disorders.

Shortness of breath may develop with a long course of hypertension. At high pressure, shortness of breath begins at its peak, lasting no more than 15-20 minutes.

Acute shortness of breath can occur against the background of attacks of paroxysmal tachycardia (rapid heartbeat), especially in the elderly, and is accompanied by pain in the heart, dizziness and visual impairment.

Shortness of breath with neurosis

Three-quarters of neurological patients also complain of shortness of breath. The feeling of shortness of breath lack of air in this category of patients is accompanied by anxiety and fear of death.

Psychogenic respiratory disorders can manifest themselves after experienced emotional overexcitation or with prolonged stress. Some even develop attacks of false asthma. The clinical feature of psychogenic shortness of breath is the frequent sighs and groans accompanying the attack.

Shortness of breath with anemia

Anemia is a pathology caused by a decrease in the content of hemoglobin and red blood cells in the blood.

With a decrease in the amount of hemoglobin, oxygen transport to tissues worsens, due to which there is not enough oxygen in the body. The body tries to compensate for this condition by increasing the depth and frequency of breaths, that is, shortness of breath develops.

Anemia is diagnosed by taking a general blood test. The disease is accompanied by severe weakness, headaches, loss of appetite, sleep disturbances, and dizziness may occur.

Shortness of breath in diseases of the endocrine system

In patients with thyrotoxicosis, diabetes mellitus and obesity, shortness of breath is very common.

With thyrotoxicosis, the body begins to experience a lack of oxygen. An excess of hormones causes an increase in the number of heart contractions and the heart loses its ability to pump blood to the organs normally. The resulting hypoxia triggers a compensation mechanism - shortness of breath.
With obesity, the work of the muscles of the heart and lungs is difficult, due to the pressure on them of fat. As a result, a state of hypoxia also occurs.
In diabetes mellitus, hypoxia develops as a result of damage to the vascular system of the body. Over time, as a result of the progression of the disease, the kidneys are affected - diabetic nephropathy begins, even more provoking anemia.

Shortness of breath after eating

Many people complain of shortness of breath after eating. This is why it happens. The mucous membrane of the stomach and pancreas begin to secrete digestive enzymes to digest food. The nutrients processed by enzymes are absorbed into the bloodstream.

All these processes require a constant flow of large amounts of blood to the digestive tract, which redistributes the blood flow in the body.

If there are any diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, this process is disrupted and hypoxia develops in the internal organs, the lungs begin to work harder to compensate for the condition, which causes shortness of breath. If you experience shortness of breath after eating, you should consult a doctor to find out the cause.

Shortness of breath in pregnancy

During pregnancy, the entire body of a woman experiences an increased load due to an increase in the volume of circulating blood and compression of the diaphragm by an enlarged uterus, which makes it difficult to breathe, especially after eating and at night. Therefore, shortness of breath occurs in most pregnant women. Anemia that often accompanies pregnancy only exacerbates this condition.

Shortness of breath in children

AT different ages children have different respiratory rates.

The condition is called shortness of breath if the child has a number of respiratory movements per minute:

0–6 months - more than 60;
6–12 months - more than 50;
older than 1 year - more than 40;
older than 5 years - more than 25;
10-14 years old - more than 20.

What causes shortness of breath in children:

Respiratory distress syndrome of the newborn;
False croup or acute stenosing laryngotracheitis;
congenital heart disease;
Development of bronchitis, allergies, pneumonia, bronchial asthma;
anemia.

To find out why shortness of breath appeared and where its roots grow from, you need to contact a general practitioner who will refer you to the necessary studies and tests, find out the causes of shortness of breath in a person and, depending on the results of the examination, send you to a specialized specialist for treatment: endocrinologist, pulmonologist, neurologist, hematologist .