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Symptoms of shortness of breath on minimal exertion. Heart failure shortness of breath when walking treatment. What is shortness of breath

Regular severe shortness of breath when walking always causes discomfort in a person and disrupts the functioning of the body. Indeed, for the full functioning of all systems and organs, normal breathing is necessary. With age, many people develop severe shortness of breath, as the mobility of the diaphragm and heart muscles changes, and the extensibility of lung tissues decreases. As a result, the lungs do not fully expand. Shortness of breath can occur due to a chronic disease, as well as be the result of a temporary illness.

Shortness of breath when walking

Shortness of breath is chronic or occurs occasionally. The main symptom of severe shortness of breath is a sharp lack of air. Also, shortness of breath is accompanied by wheezing, whistling, failure of the respiratory rhythm. A person becomes pale, tries to capture more air, while his lips turn blue.

Chronic shortness of breath is determined by the frequency of breathing. If the rhythm of inhalations and exhalations deviates from the norm, then this is evidence of pathology. It occurs due to disturbances in the respiratory system, which causes oxygen deficiency and shortness of breath.

Also, the appearance of shortness of breath and sweating when walking is possible in certain situations, for example, during physical exertion, after eating, when climbing stairs, when going out into the cold, during a night's rest.

Shortness of breath when climbing stairs can occur in a person suffering from pneumonia, lung infections, and a cold. Sometimes shortness of breath can be accompanied by pain in the chest area and lead to loss of consciousness.

The appearance of shortness of breath during a night's rest indicates stagnation in the heart tissues, as well as insufficiency of the left ventricle. In this situation, a person has to sleep sitting or put a few pillows. Thus, the blood will recede from the lungs, it will become easier to breathe.

If the appearance of severe shortness of breath occurred when going out into the cold, then this indicates a pathology of the lungs, an allergy to cold, anemia. This is also possible with insufficient body weight. In this situation, you need to learn how to breathe correctly. You can not inhale the frosty air with an open mouth sharply.

Causes of severe shortness of breath when walking

The main causes of shortness of breath are various diseases, which are determined by the nature and frequency of breathing. Each of them has its own rationale and treatment.

There are several types of shortness of breath:

1. central;

2. hematogenous;

3. pulmonary;

4. cardiac

Pulmonary dyspnea

Pulmonary shortness of breath is one that is caused by diseases and pathologies of the lungs. Distinguish expiratory form of shortness of breath. With it, swelling or spasm occurs in the bronchi, which makes it difficult to breathe. This type of shortness of breath also occurs with bronchial asthma, manifested by wheezing, whistling sounds

Inspiratory dyspnea is also distinguished. It occurs due to the accumulated fluid in the chest, with pleurisy, with fibrosis, ascites, lymphogenous carcinomatosis. Inspiratory dyspnea is possible with edema and tumors of the larynx, as well as with diseases of this area. It manifests itself with minimal physical exertion, accompanied by frequent breathing and lack of air when speaking.

Cardiac dyspnea

There are also cardiac shortness of breath. Its occurrence is directly affected by the thinning of the walls of blood vessels, septal defects, heart failure, stenosis. Also one of the causes of cardiac shortness of breath are heart defects. As a result, oxygen starvation appears, it is also the cause of shortness of breath when walking. The main signs of cardiac dyspnea are orthopnea and polypnea.

Orthopnea appears with left ventricular failure. This syndrome causes a person to always be in an upright state, because this way his condition is facilitated.

Polypnea occurs when excessive venous blood flow to the heart, may occur due to chronic heart failure. With polypnea, an increase in the frequency and depth of breathing is characteristic.

Hematogenous dyspnea

Occurs when toxic products enter the blood, in case of poisoning, in diabetes mellitus. Breathing becomes heavy, noisy and well audible

Central dyspnea

This type of shortness of breath occurs with pathologies of the central nervous system, with neuroses, as well as under the influence of neurotropic substances. Central dyspnea is not a consequence of the pathology, it is itself the cause. It manifests itself in different ways: hypernoea, oligopnea, arrhythmia.

Treatment of shortness of breath

Effective treatment is possible only after establishing the cause of shortness of breath. To do this, you need to undergo a complete examination of the body.

In medicine, the following measures are taken to treat shortness of breath: elimination of infection in the respiratory system; bringing all body systems back to normal; increased immunity;

Short-term drugs are prescribed as drugs: salbutamol, fenoterol, terbutaline. As well as long-acting drugs: formoterol, saltos, clenbuterol.

There are also folk remedies for shortness of breath when walking. Most often, folk remedies are syrups, tinctures and teas.

A very effective remedy is hawthorn tincture. The recipe is simple: three tablespoons of the collection must be poured with three ordinary glasses of boiling water. Drink one glass three times a day before meals.

No less effective means will be oil from juniper and honey. You need to take 100 grams of juniper cones, 50 grams of butter, 150 grams of honey. All soar in a water bath. Take two tablespoons every day, drink tea.

The most important task for a person is to ensure proper ventilation of the lungs. And for this you need to stop smoking, develop activity, so that your physical form improves. It is also worth limiting yourself in drinking alcohol, trying to maintain normal mental health, walking more in the fresh air. And at the same time, remember that the best treatment is prevention.

Shortness of breath or dyspnea is one of the most common complaints that patients present. This subjective sensation is often one of the symptoms of a serious respiratory or cardiovascular disease. It also occurs with obesity and anemia. The emerging feeling of lack of oxygen can be a reason for urgently seeking help from a doctor. In some cases, a patient with shortness of breath needs urgent hospitalization and urgent measures to maintain vital functions.

Table of contents:

Classification of dyspnea

Dyspnea is acute, subacute and chronic. When short of breath, a person feels tightness in the chest. Objectively, the depth of inspiration increases, and the frequency of respiratory movements (RR) increases to 18 or more per minute.

Normally, a person never pays attention to how he breathes. Against the background of more or less significant physical activity, the respiratory rate and the depth of breaths usually increase, as the body's need for oxygen increases, but this is not associated with discomfort. In this case we are talking about physiological dyspnea. After the termination of the load, the breathing of a healthy person returns to normal in a few minutes. If the feeling of lack of air occurs when performing normal activities or at rest, then this is no longer the norm. In such cases, it is customary to talk about pathological dyspnea, indicating that the patient has a certain disease.

There are three types of shortness of breath:

inspiratory;
expiratory;
mixed.

Inspiratory variety characterized by difficulty breathing. It develops against the background of narrowing of the lumen of the organs of the respiratory system - the trachea and bronchi. Such shortness of breath is detected with some chronic diseases(asthma), as well as in acute inflammation of the pleura and injuries leading to compression of the bronchi.

At expiratory dyspnea the patient finds it difficult to exhale. The cause of the problem is the narrowing of the lumen of the small bronchi. Shortness of breath of this type is characteristic of emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Among the most common causes of development in clinical practice mixed dyspnea include advanced lung pathologies, as well as heart failure.

Based on the patient's complaints, the degree of dyspnea is determined according to the MRC scale.

It is customary to distinguish 5 degrees:

0 degree - dyspnea develops only with significant physical exertion, i.e. we are not talking about pathological shortness of breath;
Grade 1 - mild shortness of breath. Respiratory failure occurs when lifting up or walking at a fast pace;
2 - average degree. Shortness of breath occurs during normal walking, and the patient has to make stops so that breathing returns to normal;
3 degree of shortness of breath - severe dyspnea. When walking, a person is forced to make stops every 2-3 minutes;
Grade 4 - very severe dyspnea. Breathing becomes difficult against the background of minimal exertion and even at rest.

There are 4 main reasons for the development of dyspnea:

heart failure;
respiratory failure;
metabolic disorders;
hyperventilation syndrome.

Note:respiratory failure can be caused by problems with the pulmonary vessels, diffuse lesions of the lung tissue, a decrease in bronchial patency, as well as pathologies of the respiratory muscles.

Hyperventilation syndrome manifests itself in some varieties and against the background of neurocirculatory dystonia.

The cause of shortness of breath in heart disease, as a rule, is an increase in pressure in the vessels that feed the myocardium.

Dyspnea in cardiac pathologies increases as the disease progresses. In the early stages, it develops with exercise, and with running process appears even at rest.

Note:in severe lesions of the heart, nocturnal paroxysmal dyspnea is often noted, which is an attack of suffocation that suddenly develops in a dream. The pathology is also known as cardiac asthma; its cause is the stagnation of fluid in the lungs.

Shortness of breath in pathologies of the respiratory system is often chronic. It can be observed in the patient for months and years. This type of dyspnea is characteristic of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, when the airway lumen narrows and sputum accumulates in it. In the patient, a short, quick breath is followed by a labored exhalation, accompanied by noise. In parallel with expiratory dyspnea, cough and discharge of a viscous secretion are often noted. After using an inhaler with a bronchodilator, as a rule, breathing returns to normal. If it is not possible to stop an attack with conventional medicines, then the patient's condition deteriorates very quickly. Lack of oxygen leads to loss of consciousness. In such cases, urgent medical attention is required.

In diseases of infectious genesis (acute and) the severity of shortness of breath directly depends on the severity of the pathological process. With adequate therapy, the symptoms stop within a few days. Severe pneumonia can lead to heart failure. At the same time, shortness of breath increases. This condition is an indication for urgent hospitalization of the patient.

Gradually increasing persistent dyspnea may indicate the presence of neoplasms in the lungs. The severity of the symptom increases as the tumor grows. In addition to shortness of breath, the patient has a hacking unproductive cough, often hemoptysis, general weakness and cachexia (significant weight loss).

Important:The most dangerous pathologies of the respiratory system, in which shortness of breath occurs, are toxic pulmonary edema, pulmonary embolism (PE) and local airway obstruction.

With thromboembolism, there is a blockage of the branches of the pulmonary artery by blood clots. As a result, part of the organ ceases to participate in the act of breathing. Dyspnea in this situation develops suddenly, worries with minimal exertion and even at rest. The patient complains of tightness and pain in the chest, which resembles the symptoms of an angina attack. In some cases, hemoptysis is noted.

Airway obstruction can be caused by aspiration of a foreign object, compression of the bronchi or trachea from the outside (with aortic aneurysm and tumors), cicatricial narrowing of the lumen, or chronic inflammation in autoimmune diseases. With obstruction, dyspnea is inspiratory in nature. The patient's breathing is loud with a whistling noise. Violation of the airway is accompanied by suffocation and a painful cough, aggravated by a change in body position. Bronchodilators in such cases are ineffective; it is necessary to mechanically restore the patency of the trachea and bronchi and measures aimed at treating the underlying disease.

The cause of shortness of breath can also be toxic edema, which develops as a result of inhalation of aggressive substances or against the background of an infectious lesion of the respiratory organs with severe intoxication of the body. The patient has increasing shortness of breath, which, as the process progresses, is replaced by suffocation. When breathing, bubbling sounds are clearly audible. In this situation, urgent medical care is needed, involving the maintenance of respiratory function and detoxification of the body.

Respiratory failure develops in such an acute condition as pneumothorax. With a penetrating wound of the chest, air enters the pleural cavity and presses on the lung, preventing it from expanding on inspiration. The patient needs emergency surgery.

Shortness of breath is one of the symptoms of tuberculosis, actinomycosis, and emphysema.

Important:dyspnea can develop with severe. The cause of shortness of breath and shortness of breath in this case is the deformation of the chest.

To establish the factors leading to the development of respiratory failure, additional (instrumental) research methods are needed: radiography (fluorography), spirometry, ECG, tomography, angiography and bronchoscopy.

One of the causes of shortness of breath is anemia. When the number of red blood cells decreases in the blood or the content of hemoglobin in red blood cells decreases. Since hemoglobin is responsible for transporting oxygen to all cells, hypoxia develops when it is deficient. The body reflexively tries to compensate for the lack of oxygen, so the frequency of breathing quickens, and the person takes deeper breaths. The causes of anemia can be congenital metabolic disorders, insufficient intake of iron by the alimentary route, chronic blood loss, serious illnesses, blood cancer, etc.

Patients with anemia complain of general weakness, memory impairment, decreased ability to concentrate, loss of appetite, etc. The skin of such patients is pale or icteric. The disease is easily diagnosed on the basis of laboratory blood test data. The type of anemia is specified during additional studies. Treatment is carried out by a hematologist.

Dyspnea often accompanies such endocrine pathologies as (thyroid disease) and. With thyrotoxicosis, metabolism is accelerated, as a result of which the body's need for oxygen increases. An increase in the level of thyroid hormones increases the frequency of myocardial contractions, and the heart cannot pump blood to other tissues in the required volume. As a result, hypoxia develops, forcing a person to breathe faster and deeper.

Obesity significantly complicates the work of the lungs, heart and respiratory muscles, which also leads to oxygen deficiency.

Diabetes mellitus, as it progresses, affects the blood vessels, so all the tissues of the body begin to suffer from a lack of oxygen. Diabetic nephropathy leads to anemia, which further increases hypoxia and causes shortness of breath.

Shortness of breath in nervous disorders

Up to 75% of patients of psychiatrists and neurologists complain of more or less pronounced shortness of breath from time to time. Such patients are disturbed by a feeling of lack of air, which is often accompanied by a fear of death from suffocation. Patients with psychogenic dyspnea are mostly suspicious people with an unstable psyche and a tendency to hypochondria. Shortness of breath can develop in them with stress or even for no apparent reason. In some cases, the so-called. false asthma attacks.

A specific feature of shortness of breath in neurotic conditions is its “noise design” by the patient. He breathes loudly and often, groans and groans, trying to attract attention.

During pregnancy, the total volume of circulating blood increases. The respiratory system of a woman must supply oxygen to two organisms at once - the expectant mother and the developing fetus. Since the uterus increases significantly in size, it presses on the diaphragm, somewhat reducing the respiratory excursion. These changes cause shortness of breath in many pregnant women. The respiratory rate increases to 22-24 breaths per minute and further increases with emotional or physical stress. Dyspnea may progress as the fetus grows; in addition, it is aggravated by anemia, which is often noted in expectant mothers. If the respiratory rate exceeds the above values, this is a reason to show increased alertness and consult with the doctor of the antenatal clinic, leading the pregnancy.

Shortness of breath in children

In children, the respiratory rate is different; it gradually decreases as it grows older.

It is possible to suspect pathological shortness of breath in a child if the frequency of breaths per minute exceeds the following indicators:

0-6 months - 60;
6 months - 1 year - 50;
1 year -5 years - 40;
5-10 years - 25;
10-14 years old - 20.

It is recommended to determine the respiratory rate while the child is sleeping. In this case, the measurement error will be minimal. During feeding, as well as during physical activity or emotional arousal, the baby's respiratory rate always increases, but this is not a deviation. It is worth worrying if the respiratory rate does not return to normal numbers at rest within the next few minutes.

Causes of dyspnea and shortness of breath in children include:

If the child has shortness of breath, it must be urgently shown to the local pediatrician. Severe respiratory failure requires an ambulance call, as it is a life-threatening condition.

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Dyspnea is the medical name for this disease.

Almost all of us are familiar with the feeling of lack of air when running or climbing stairs to the fifth floor. But there are cases when shortness of breath occurs when walking only a few tens of meters or even at rest. If in such situations it became difficult to breathe, then the matter is serious.

Breathing is a natural process, so we do not notice it. But we immediately feel if something is wrong with our breathing. Especially when, for no apparent reason, we begin to suffocate. The brain receives the appropriate signal - and our breathing quickens, and this process cannot be controlled by consciousness. Its frequency and rhythm, the duration of inhalation or exhalation have changed - in a word, you feel that you are obviously breathing somehow wrong. This is wheezing.

Types of shortness of breath and methods of treatment

In most cases, shortness of breath is associated with hypoxia - low oxygen in the body or hypoxemia - low oxygen in the blood. Which causes irritation of the respiratory center in the brain. The result - a feeling of lack of air, involuntarily rapid breathing.

Conventionally, 3 types of shortness of breath are distinguished: inspiratory shortness of breath (difficult to inhale) - more typical for heart disease; expiratory shortness of breath (difficulty exhaling) - most often occurs with bronchial asthma due to spasms; mixed shortness of breath (when both inhalation and exhalation are difficult) - characteristic of a variety of diseases.

The most important method of dealing with dyspnea is the treatment of the disease that caused it. As soon as the specialist finds out the cause, an effective treatment plan will be determined. For example, in coronary heart disease and myocardial infarction, treatment with tablets is often used. With bronchial asthma - regular treatment with inhalers. Since the main cause of shortness of breath in many cases is low oxygen in the body, one of the ways to reduce shortness of breath is oxygen therapy.

9 causes - and the same number of treatments

To determine the cause of shortness of breath, it is important to know how quickly it appeared. It can occur acutely - within minutes, hours, several days, or gradually - over several weeks, months or years. Let's look at the main reasons.

1. Poor physical condition

In principle, in this case, shortness of breath is rather a normal phenomenon than a cause for serious concern.

Physiological shortness of breath appears after you climbed the stairs or caught up with the bus. The muscles involved in the work remove oxygen from the blood. The brain tries to cover the resulting oxygen deficiency, that is, it makes us breathe more often. Such shortness of breath is not dangerous in itself, but if you are out of breath even after climbing a couple of floors, it's time to think about your physical condition. In physically active and trained people, shortness of breath occurs less frequently.

What to do to get rid of such shortness of breath? We need regular aerobic exercise, which leads to an increase in the respiratory rate and heartbeat. If you don’t have time for the gym, brisk walks are also suitable. Go down and up the stairs within 3-4 floors.

2. Panic attack

As you know, strong excitement, anxiety, anger and fear stimulate the production of adrenaline. Once in the blood, adrenaline causes the body to pass a lot of air through the lungs, provoking hyperventilation. Therefore, with serious experiences, the heart rate increases and shortness of breath appears.

What to do? Shortness of breath caused by such strong emotions is, in principle, safe for health. However, for severe panic attacks (and not just shortness of breath from excitement), it is better to see a doctor. Severe shortness of breath during a panic may indicate a disease - for example, vegetovascular dystonia.

3. Anemia or anemia

The most common is iron deficiency anemia. Iron ions saturate the blood with oxygen, play an important role in the processes of hematopoiesis. With their shortage, hypoxia develops and an emergency protective mechanism is activated - shortness of breath.

This condition is more typical for women, although men often have a lack of iron in the body. The presence of anemia is diagnosed on the basis of data from a clinical blood test.

What to do to get rid of anemia and at the same time shortness of breath? With a significant decrease in the level of hemoglobin, the doctor prescribes treatment with iron-containing drugs. They need to be taken for at least two months and monitor proper nutrition. Iron is perfectly absorbed from the liver and red meat, but from plant foods, for example, buckwheat or pomegranates, which are considered a panacea for anemia, are pretty bad. In order for the iron contained in the preparation or food to be better absorbed, vitamin C is also prescribed.

4. Obesity

This is no longer just insufficient fitness, but a serious disease that requires a lot of effort from a person to improve his health. At the same time, the danger is not external fat on the hips or buttocks, but internal, since obesity is not just a cosmetic defect.

A layer of fat envelops the lungs and heart, preventing a person from breathing normally. In addition, in obese people, the heart endures increased stress, as it needs to pump blood into a large fat pad. Therefore, less oxygen is supplied to important organs.

There is only one solution to the problem - to get rid of fat under the supervision of a doctor. Don't start with strenuous workouts in the gym - chances are high that you'll just pass out.

5. Pulmonary diseases

Shortness of breath that occurs with diseases of the respiratory organs, there are two types. Inspiratory - when there is difficulty in breathing as a result of clogging of the bronchi with mucus or with lung tumors, and expiratory - there is difficulty in exhaling as a result of spasms that occur with bronchial asthma.

To determine the causes of pulmonary dyspnea, it will be necessary to conduct an examination and treatment under the supervision of a pulmonologist. A minimum of research is a chest x-ray, a clinical blood test, spirography (a study of lung function by graphic registration of changes in their volume during breathing over time). In especially severe cases, for example, to diagnose tumors or tuberculosis, other methods are also used. Bronchoscopy and computed x-ray tomography will most likely be required. Well, as already mentioned, you will need to be treated by a pulmonologist.

6. Ischemic heart disease

In this case, shortness of breath is manifested by a feeling of lack of air. In general, shortness of breath is as typical a sign of coronary heart disease as are compressive pains in the left side of the chest.

What to do? If you experience shortness of breath and severe chest pain for the first time, immediately call an ambulance. In men, especially young men, coronary heart disease sometimes manifests itself for the first time with myocardial infarction. When providing first aid, the scope of research is usually limited to the cardiogram, and after that the decision regarding the examination and treatment is made by the cardiologist.

7. Congestive heart failure

It is quite difficult to catch early signs of this disease - this is usually done with the help of special examinations.

In congestive heart failure, shortness of breath is always accompanied by a forced position of the patient. It occurs in a person lying on a low pillow, and disappears when the patient assumes a sitting position - orthopnea. For example, US President Roosevelt slept in a sitting position in a chair just for this reason. Such shortness of breath occurs due to increased blood flow to the heart in the supine position and overflow of the heart chambers.

Treating shortness of breath in heart failure is not an easy task, but experienced cardiologists and modern drugs sometimes work wonders.

8. Cardiac asthma or paroxysmal dyspnea

Such a sharply occurring shortness of breath, developing into suffocation, often appears at night. Unlike the previous cause - orthopnea (forced position) - in this case, shortness of breath does not go away either in a sitting or standing position. The person becomes pale, moist rales appear in the chest, the lungs begin to swell. This condition threatens the life of the patient, so you should immediately call an ambulance.

Usually, prompt treatment is effective and eliminates an attack of cardiac asthma. In this case, the patient will need to regularly visit a cardiologist, since only competent treatment of cardiovascular diseases will maintain health in a normal state.

9. Pulmonary embolism

Almost the most common cause of shortness of breath is deep vein thrombophlebitis. At the same time, a person does not always have varicose veins on the surface of the skin, which would give a call to see a doctor. The insidiousness of deep vein thrombophlebitis is that the first episode proceeds quite easily - the leg swells slightly, pains and cramps appear in the calf muscle - the sensations are just like a sprain, and they do not push for examination by a doctor. The problem is that after this, blood clots appear in the veins of the problematic limb, which can move to the pulmonary artery and block the lumen in it. And this, in turn, leads to the death of a section of the lung - a heart attack-pneumonia.

Signs of pulmonary embolism are severe shortness of breath, stabbing pains in the chest, excruciating cough that suddenly appeared against the background of normal health. In especially severe cases, a person's face turns blue.

Modern methods of medicine effectively treat this serious disease, however, it is better not to lead to thromboembolism, but to seek medical help in time for any suspicion of pathology of the veins of the lower extremities. Signals can be swelling, heaviness in the legs and cramps in the calf muscles.

As you can see, shortness of breath occurs for many reasons, ranging from those requiring only some lifestyle changes to those that require serious treatment. Fortunately, many conditions can be prevented or significantly alleviated by timely treatment of pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases.

Lack of air is felt when the frequency, depth of inhalation and exhalation is disturbed. If breathing is no longer enough during physical exertion, which previously did not cause difficulties, it is worth finding out the cause of shortness of breath. Thus, it will be possible to recognize and start treatment of a serious disease in time.

Shortness of breath during stress

With shortness of breath, the frequency, rhythm and depth of breathing are disturbed, it seems that there is not enough air. Some tend to panic, are taken to look for the cause. Which, however, is natural, since a sufficient and timely supply of oxygen to the tissues is vital. Another thing is that in many situations the lack of breath is subjective.

The cause of shortness of breath may be stressful situation . But even a strong emotional shock, accompanied by the release of adrenaline, is not capable of seriously disrupting the functioning of the body. With the strongest nervous overstrain, breathing becomes less effective, but still does not stop.

Another thing is that with strong emotions, some literally “forget to breathe” and begin to swallow air, which causes it to end up in the stomach, and not in the lungs, causing shortness of breath. Others strive to inhale as deeply as possible, completely forgetting that the air also needs to be exhaled.

Feeling of shortness of breath, lack of air is caused by muscle spasm . All muscles, including the larynx and pharynx, are subjected to tension, which causes a feeling of "coma in the throat", "spirals of breath". This condition also does not pose a serious danger, since the body is not able to suffocate itself.

Shortness of breath may result from sleeping pill poisoning .

Causes of shortness of breath during exercise

The body needs an increased amount of oxygen during significant physical exertion. For example, when you have to quickly climb the stairs to the 5-7th floor, catch a public transport stop.

The cause of shortness of breath in athletes is climbing to a height where the oxygen content is low, training in the heat, significant physical overstrain, lack of sports training, overly tight sportswear.

The natural excitement before the competition, the stress experienced the day before, the accumulated fatigue also impair breathing. During classes, there is not enough air, shortness of breath appears.

The body feels a lack of oxygen, poisoned by carbon dioxide. Breathing becomes convulsive, headache. In order not to lose consciousness, you should gradually reduce the load, take a break or stop exercising.

The appearance of shortness of breath in hypertension

In hypertension, blood pressure is constantly elevated due to tense muscles in the walls of the arteries. At the beginning of the disease, the head hurts or feels dizzy, nausea, sometimes blood flows from the nose, weakness, sweating, discomfort when the weather changes, insomnia, memory worsens. With the development of the disease, shortness of breath appears, fatigue sets in faster.

In the case of hypertension, the load on the heart muscle increases. Over time, she begins to pump blood worse. In the vessels that feed the heart muscle, spasms often occur, and pain occurs in the region of the heart.

Causes of cardiac dyspnea

In the case of heart failure, the speed of blood flow in the vessels passing through the lungs slows down. Part of the moisture is in the lung bubbles. As a result, the blood is saturated with oxygen worse, breathing becomes more difficult. Breathing becomes more frequent, dizzy, dark in the eyes. There is a feeling of weakness, fatigue sets in faster, shivering, the skin turns blue, the legs swell.

To distinguish cardiac dyspnea from other varieties, you need to pay attention to whether breathing is difficult. Another feature - shortness of breath appears even with little physical exertion.

It is difficult to breathe in a lying position, so it is worth:

sit half-sitting;
breathe from an oxygen bag;
call an ambulance;
suck on a nitroglycerin tablet every 10 minutes.

If the cause of shortness of breath is heart failure, you should definitely consult a doctor, since shortness of breath does not happen at an early stage of this disorder.

Due to a chronic lack of oxygen supply to the heart muscle, its cells die and are replaced by connective tissue, the valves stop reliably blocking the heart sections. As a result, the pumping function of the heart deteriorates, develops cardiosclerosis.

At first, shortness of breath appears only during physical exertion, over time - after eating, at rest, at night. The heart rhythm is disturbed, contractions become more frequent.

Front myocardial infarction dizziness and headache, it becomes difficult to breathe, nausea, fainting may occur. Pressure drops, shortness of breath increases. Sometimes the symptoms of this form of coronary heart disease are similar to hepatic colic, stomach ulcers, acute pancreatitis. , nausea, vomiting.

In the elderly and those with diabetes, myocardial infarction can be painless.

Shortness of breath with atherosclerosis

With the formation of plaques on the walls of blood vessels, blood circulation and the supply of oxygen to organs worsen. The walls of blood vessels lose elasticity, the likelihood of blood clots increases.

Atherosclerotic plaques are formed not only with an increased level of cholesterol in the blood, but also with metabolic disorders, age-related changes in vascular tissues. These factors create favorable conditions for cholesterol compounds to be in the vascular wall, forming plaques.

The accumulation of deposits on the walls of blood vessels is promoted by stress, regular nervous strain, a sedentary lifestyle, sweet and fatty foods, smoking, insufficient intake of live vitamins and natural protein.

In the early stages, the disease is almost not felt. Sometimes there is shortness of breath for no reason, limbs go numb. Symptoms become pronounced when the diameter of the vessel is blocked by more than 70%.

Attacks of shortness of breath appear with atherosclerosis of the coronary vessels, which is detected by an ECG study. With partial blockage of the aorta, the blood supply to the liver, kidneys, and intestines is disrupted.

Causes of pulmonary dyspnea

Pulmonary forms of shortness of breath are associated with insufficient compliance, low lung compliance, and chest trauma.

In case of insufficient compliance of the lungs, the patient does not feel discomfort at rest. But at the slightest physical exertion, air ceases to suffice, the ventilation limit is reached very quickly.

In violation of the patency of the bronchi, it is difficult to breathe even at rest. Additional efforts are required for inhalation and exhalation. As a rule, it is more difficult to exhale. The airways are clogged with mucus and phlegm.

Attacks of shortness of breath, turning into suffocation, occur when bronchial or cardiac asthma. It takes effort to exhale. To diagnose asthma, a blood test is performed to check for specific changes. Pre-asthma condition develops against the background of bronchitis in acute or chronic form, sinusitis, pneumonia.

As a rule, an attack of lack of air occurs at night. On exhalation, characteristic wheezing is heard. To alleviate the condition, you need to get up, lean on a chair, table, window sill, until the attack stops and sputum begins to separate.

Requires the use of potent drugs prescribed individually.

Causes of shortness of breath with anemia

At anemia(anemia) the level of hemoglobin in the blood is reduced. Often the disease occurs in childhood and develops with impaired absorption in the intestine, frequent infections, with insufficient intake of substances for the formation of hemoglobin. First of all, iron, vitamins, protein.

With insufficient intake of vitamins B12 and B9 with food ( folic acid) develops vitamin deficiency anemia. It causes shortness of breath, general weakness, impaired gait, and some reflexes. , sometimes the temperature rises, mental disorders occur, the liver enlarges.

Many people are tormented by a fairly common phenomenon - shortness of breath when walking, the causes of which at first glance are inexplicable. Sometimes it is enough just to speed up the step and there is an unpleasant sensation in the chest, it becomes difficult to breathe. Quite often you can hear the opinion that only people of age suffer from it, but this is not so. Young people are also prone to dyspnea, the causes of which are varied. The phenomenon of lack of air is a symptom of a disease, so it is very important to consult a doctor in a timely manner.

Symptoms

At the initial stage of damage to the cardiovascular and respiratory system, shortness of breath when walking (the causes in the elderly and young people may be associated with the presence of organ disease) occurs with any other physical activity, for example, walking up the stairs. If the disease progresses, then dyspnea is noticed even with a slow step or tying shoelaces. The following symptoms may appear:

tightness in the chest;
difficulty inhaling or exhaling;
suffocation;
strong squeezing in the chest area;
lack of oxygen;
Inability to fully exhale and take a deep breath.

What is shortness of breath when walking

Shortness of breath when walking, the causes of which may be associated with problems of the respiratory and cardiovascular systems, manifests itself infrequently or in a chronic form. The most common sign of deviation is a lack of air that occurs suddenly. In addition, the patient may lose his respiratory rhythm, whistles and wheezing are heard, the skin turns pale, and the lips become blue.

Shortness of breath of the chronic type can be determined by the frequency of breathing. Knocking down the rhythm of exhalations and inhalations indicates the presence of pathology. Severe shortness of breath when walking, the causes of which are in violation of the respiratory system, causes a sharp oxygen deficiency. Along with dyspnea, increased sweating may occur. This is usually noticed when the patient goes out into the cold, at night, after eating and during exercise. Most often there is shortness of breath when walking up the stairs. Causes - lung infection, pneumonia, viral disease. Possible manifestations - severe pain in the chest and loss of consciousness.

Dyspnea can appear even at night, when a person is at rest. This is due to insufficiency of the ventricle of the heart (left) or with stagnation in the tissues of the heart. In this case, it is easier for the patient to breathe if he sleeps in a sitting position or on several pillows.

In cold weather, shortness of breath may also occur when walking. Causes - the presence of abnormalities in the work of the lungs, anemia, insufficient body weight, an allergic reaction to low temperatures. Experts advise in this case to learn to breathe correctly, without inhaling cold air through the mouth.

Possible causes and types of dyspnea

The most common causes of shortness of breath when walking are:

Chest deformity.
Deviations in the nervous system - panic attacks, neurosis, and hysteria.
Inflammatory processes in the bronchi - asthma.
Decrease in the amount of hemoglobin, erythrocytes.
Inflammation of the lung tissue - pneumonia.
Obesity.
Violation of the cardiovascular system.
Shortness of breath is cardiac, central, pulmonary and hematogenous.

Pulmonary and hematogenous dyspnea

Quite often, expiratory dyspnea is diagnosed when walking. Causes, the treatment of which takes a long time - pathologies or complex lung diseases. Pulmonary dyspnea is characterized by spasms and swelling, which affects the respiratory process. The expiratory form occurs with bronchial asthma, the patient hears wheezing and whistling.

In addition, inspiratory dyspnoea when walking is common. “Causes - treatment” are the main two components that only a specialist will help to deal with. Therefore, if malfunctions in breathing are detected even with little physical activity, difficulties in pronunciation of speech, you should seek help from the hospital. This shortness of breath occurs due to diseases of the larynx, its edema and tumors.

Hematogenous - most often occurs when toxins enter the bloodstream. This shortness of breath is observed in patients suffering from diabetes mellitus. Symptoms are noisy, heavy breathing.

Cardiac and central dyspnea

Cardiac shortness of breath is associated with thinning of the vascular walls, stenosis, heart failure. Often a heart defect becomes something that can cause shortness of breath when walking (severe oxygen starvation). Signs of this type of shortness of breath are polypnea, as well as orthopnea. The first is characterized by excessive blood flow to the heart or heart failure. The second develops with insufficiency of the left ventricle of the heart. With orthopnea, the patient tends to be in an upright position, since only then does he feel better.

Central shortness of breath during fast walking, the causes of which are the effect of substances of a neurotropic nature, deviations of the central nervous system, most often manifested by arrhythmia. This type of shortness of breath is not a manifestation of any pathology, central shortness of breath is a cause in itself.

Diagnosis

Before proceeding to the doctor should determine as accurately as possible the causes of deviations that disrupt the breathing process when walking. Severe shortness of breath can be the result of many dangerous diseases. The following methods are used to identify them:

Visual examination of the patient.
Tomography or X-ray of the chest.
Patient's blood test.
Bronchodilator test.
Echocardiography.
Spirometry.
Pulse oximetry.

Effective treatment

With shortness of breath, a person feels an acute lack of oxygen, the most extreme stage is suffocation. Shortness of breath is divided, as mentioned above, into expiratory (problems with exhalation), inspiratory (difficulties in inhaling) and mixed. The latter is accompanied by both heavy inhalation and exhalation. Regardless of the type, the deviation should be treated immediately. The most common way to deal with the disease is to identify the disease that provoked breathing difficulties, and subsequent treatment. If coronary disease or a heart attack is diagnosed, therapy should include only medications. Inhalers help with asthma to get rid of the disease.

Along with the main prescribed course of medications, another way to forget what shortness of breath is when walking can help. The reasons, the treatment of folk remedies which are slowly, but also effectively, are gradually disappearing. However, do not forget that alternative therapy should not be separated from the prescribed doctor's recommendations. Effective way reducing shortness of breath is oxygen therapy. The bottom line is the use of special oxygen concentrators that contribute to the constant “extraction” of the oxygen required by the body from the air.

Oxygen Therapy

If the patient's shortness of breath is associated with lung cancer, bronchitis, or idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, treatment should be based on the use of concentrators. In addition, oxygen therapy is used for heart failure. Oxygen therapy is effective even when drugs cease to have the proper therapeutic effect, and the patient, due to severe shortness of breath, can not only move normally, but also eat, dress and carry out hygiene procedures. Oxygen therapy helps in the following:

Extend life with severe pathologies by several years (about 10).
Reduce heart rate at rest and during movement.
Cheer up, get rid of insomnia.
Reduce the discomfort of shortness of breath.

Traditional medicine

By undergoing drug therapy and relying on remedies that have been tested by people for centuries, you can get rid of the discomfort that shortness of breath gives when walking. The reasons, the treatment of which with folk remedies gives a visible effect, may stop bothering the patient, since complex therapy helps to get rid of not only the symptoms, but also “extinguish” the focus of the disease. An effective way to combat shortness of breath from traditional medicine is a decoction. It is required to pour one spoon of the plant with 250 ml of boiling water. Such a decoction is infused for an hour in a place inaccessible to sunlight. Drink this medicine should be several times a day for 1/3 cup.

Help relieve shortness of breath when walking oatmeal. Half a glass of cereals is poured with 2 liters of milk. In order for the dish to be fully cooked, it must be simmered for about 2 hours in the oven at a low temperature. One to two hours before bedtime, consume a portion of porridge (150-200 g). To achieve the desired effect, eating such porridge takes about 14 days.

Prevention of shortness of breath

Preventive measures for shortness of breath include:

Regular exercise and proper nutrition in order to maintain a normal weight.
Training of respiratory muscles by swimming, daily walks in the fresh air.
Complete cessation of tobacco products.
Respiratory gymnastics, carried out according to various methods.
Avoid contact with dust, feathers, animal hair - active allergens that can provoke bronchial spasm.
Complete treatment of the underlying disease.

It is important to regularly consult a doctor who can conduct a complete examination in order to exclude the progression of chronic diseases and the development of new abnormalities.

Shortness of breath when walking

Chronic shortness of breath is determined by the frequency of breathing. If the rhythm of inhalations and exhalations deviates from the norm, then this is evidence of pathology. It occurs due to disturbances in the functioning of the respiratory system, which causes oxygen deficiency and shortness of breath.

Causes of severe shortness of breath when walking

The main causes of shortness of breath are various diseases, which are determined by the nature and frequency of breathing. Each of them has its own rationale and treatment.

There are several types of shortness of breath:

1. central;

2. hematogenous;

3. pulmonary;

4. cardiac

Pulmonary dyspnea

Cardiac dyspnea

Orthopnea appears with left ventricular failure. This syndrome causes a person to always be in an upright state, because this way his condition is facilitated.

Polypnea occurs when excessive venous blood flow to the heart, may occur due to chronic heart failure. With polypnea, an increase in the frequency and depth of breathing is characteristic.

Hematogenous dyspnea

Occurs when toxic products enter the blood, in case of poisoning, in diabetes mellitus. Breathing becomes heavy, noisy and well audible

Central dyspnea

Treatment of shortness of breath

Effective treatment is possible only after establishing the cause of shortness of breath. To do this, you need to undergo a complete examination of the body.

In medicine, the following measures are taken to treat shortness of breath: elimination of infection in the respiratory system; bringing all body systems back to normal; increased immunity;

Short-term drugs are prescribed as drugs: salbutamol, fenoterol, terbutaline. As well as long-acting drugs: formoterol, saltos, clenbuterol.

There are also folk remedies for shortness of breath when walking. Most often, folk remedies are syrups, tinctures and teas.

Constant painful shortness of breath makes a person's life uncomfortable, as he is deprived of the possibility of normal breathing, which is necessary for the functioning of all organs and systems of the body. Over the years, such pathologies appear in many people, as the extensibility and elasticity of lung tissue decreases, the strength and mobility of the diaphragm and chest muscles change. As a result, the lungs lose the ability to expand completely. Shortness of breath can also occur due to chronic diseases or temporary health problems.

Shortness of breath may occur occasionally, paroxysmal, and may be chronic. A sharp lack of air, whistling or wheezing, a change in the depth and rhythm of breathing are pronounced symptoms of shortness of breath attacks. The person turns pale, tries to grab the air, his lips turn blue.

In the chronic course of the disease, it is difficult for a person to breathe in a prone position, so the neck muscles or abdominal breathing are connected to the process. The chronic form can be determined by the frequency of inhalations and exhalations - if the rhythm is abnormal, then this is a clear symptom of the pathology. Shortness of breath can occur on certain specific occasions, such as when walking, exercising, climbing stairs, going out into the cold, after eating, at night, and even during sex.

When walking shortness of breath is associated with cardiac activity, or rather with the coronary vascular system that supplies blood to the myocardium. The presence of heart disease, thinning of the vascular walls, and septal defects directly affect shortness of breath. As a result, oxygen starvation occurs, which is manifested by shortness of breath when walking.
Not a single person can do without minimal physical activity, just like without eating. But if shortness of breath is manifested during such daily activities, this is already a pathology. It can occur due to disorders of the heart or respiratory system - the lungs and bronchi. As a result, there is a lack of oxygen entering the blood, and shortness of breath appears.
Climbing stairs should not cause special difficulties and shortness of breath in a healthy person. It can appear in people suffering from lung infections, colds, emphysema, pneumonia, etc. Shortness of breath can turn into an acute attack with chest pain and even cause loss of consciousness.
If a person begins to choke when going out into the cold, this may be the result of a cold allergy, pathology of the lungs, anemia. This also happens in underweight people. Frosty air is good for the body, but you need to learn how to breathe when leaving a warm room. The first rule - you can not inhale sharply frosty air with an open mouth - this can cause both shortness of breath and pain in the heart.
Difficulty in breathing may also occur at night rest. This indicates left ventricular failure or congestive processes in the tissues of the heart muscle. A person has to put a few pillows or sleep sitting to alleviate the condition. It is also relieved by taking an upright position, as the blood recedes from the lungs.
The occurrence of shortness of breath during sex can occur for the above reasons, as well as with anemia, which is caused by iron deficiency in the blood. This can be determined exactly by the doctor when receiving the results of clinical tests.

Causes of shortness of breath

The culprits of shortness of breath can be various diseases - they can be determined by the frequency and nature of inhalations and exhalations. Each category of pathology has its own name and justification. In medicine, there is a division, which is defined as central dyspnea, pulmonary, cardiac and hematogenous. In turn, they are also divided into several more types.

Pulmonary dyspnea

Expiratory dyspnea is the most common form, which is determined by difficulty in exhaling and occurs when the lumen in the bronchi narrows due to edema, spasm, or blockage with sputum. To cope with this problem in the process of breathing, it is necessary to strengthen the work of the respiratory muscles, but even this is not enough, and the exhalation cycle is difficult.

This form of shortness of breath is manifested in bronchial asthma, especially during attacks, as well as in chronic bronchitis, with the occurrence of bronchospasm and allergic bronchial edema. This form is characterized by whistling and wheezing sounds during exhalation, but, unlike cardiac dyspnea, a person has the opportunity to sleep peacefully at night without experiencing suffocation, and his limbs do not get cold.

Inspiratory dyspnea is defined as difficulty in breathing. This is due to the accumulation of fluid in the chest - with fibrosis, lymphogenous carcinomatosis, pleurisy, ascites, ankylosing spondylitis. A similar form is also manifested in laryngeal edema, tumor diseases of this area.

This type of shortness of breath can be determined by the inability of a person to speak without frequent breaths, it also manifests itself during even minimal physical exertion. Inhalation in such cases is accompanied by a whistling noise.

Cardiac dyspnea

The causes of this category of respiratory failure are most often mitral stenosis, left atrial myxoma or left ventricular heart failure, in which blood circulation is disturbed, which leads to respiratory dysfunction. Signs of cardiac dyspnea in these pathologies are orthopnea and polypnea.

Orthopnea- this is a syndrome of cardiac dyspnea, which forces a person to be in an upright position all the time, as this alleviates his condition. Orthopnea is associated with left ventricular and left atrial failure.
Polypnea- characterized by increased frequency and depth of breathing, up to the phenomenon of hyperventilation of the lungs. Most often caused by excessive venous blood flow to the heart when a person takes a horizontal position, it can be caused by chronic heart failure.

Hematogenous dyspnea

Such shortness of breath occurs when toxic products appear in the blood due to liver failure, diabetes, or poisoning. Breathing due to the large air flow becomes noisy and well audible.

In addition, the hemic type differs, which mainly occurs with anemia, due to a decrease in the oxygen concentration in the blood. In patients with anemia, the appearance of such shortness of breath is more often a consequence not of the disease itself, but of other causes, for example, anemic myocardiography, hypoxic damage to the central nervous system.

Central dyspnea

This type is a symptom of pathological processes in the respiratory center of the CNS, with its organic lesions, neurosis, or from exposure to neurotropic toxic substances. Unlike all other categories, such shortness of breath is not a reaction of the respiratory apparatus to pathology in other organs, it itself is the root cause of respiratory failure, leading to serious consequences. It can manifest itself in different ways: arrhythmia, centrogenic bradypnea, hyperpnea, tachypnea and oligopnea.

Respiratory arrhythmias are caused by dysfunctions in the brain stem that occur with traumatic brain injury, stroke, inflammation and edema, as well as with certain types of chemical or drug poisoning.
Bradypnea - this is how rare breathing is indicated, which can occur when poisoning with narcotic substances or with pathological changes in the central nervous system. Sometimes you can notice it in healthy people during deep sleep. With a systematic manifestation of bradypnea, a consultation with a neurologist is required.
Oligopnea - superficial rare breathing with insufficient ventilation of the lungs, may occur with hypothermia. If medical measures are not taken, this type of shortness of breath becomes more severe and can lead to respiratory arrest. In all cases, the prognosis for the appearance of oligopnea is unfavorable, as it leads to respiratory acidosis or diffuse cyanosis.
Tachypnea - rapid shallow breathing, which can occur with neuroses, tumor formations, meningitis. The respiratory rate reaches 75-80 times per minute. This phenomenon also occurs with pericholecystitis, diffuse peritonitis, ascites, disruption of the central nervous system.
Hyperpnea - pathologically frequent deep breathing, occurs in a coma with hemorrhagic stroke, meningitis, head injuries, alcoholic coma. In connection with the accumulation of mucus in the nasopharynx and trachea and the reduction of the pharyngeal muscles during breathing, snoring and whistling sounds often occur.

General treatment for shortness of breath

Treatment of shortness of breath will be effective if the cause of its occurrence is established. To do this, you need to undergo a serious in-depth medical examination, as it would be wrong to treat a symptom without paying attention to the essence of the problem.

The main task is to ensure normal ventilation of the lungs. For this, it is necessary, first of all, to make efforts to the person suffering from this pathology - it is necessary to give up tobacco, to begin to increase one's physical activity.

For the treatment of orthopnea, in which it is impossible to breathe while lying down, ultrasonic inhalation debridements and immunotherapy are well suited. A general treatment plan for dyspnea usually consists of the following:

Elimination of foci of infection in the entire respiratory system.
Normalization of the gastrointestinal tract, lymphatic, cardiovascular systems of the body, psycho-emotional sphere.
Immunomodulation (increased immunity).
Energy activation of the body.

Medications

If the cause of shortness of breath is respiratory diseases, first of all, medical specialists recommend drinking plenty of soft alkaline drinks.
In case of intoxication of the body, infusion therapy is needed - the introduction of fluid intravenously (saline, hemodez, reopoliglyukina and others)

Shortness of breath caused by bronchospasm is treated with drugs that eliminate it. Preparations are divided into means of long-term and short-term action.

Short acting drugs:

salbutamol (tablets, inhalers, solutions for use in a nebulizer).
fenoterol (aerosol, solution for inhalation);
terbutaline (tablets, injections, inhalations).

Long acting drugs:

saltos (tablets);
formoterol (capsules, inhaler);
clenbuterol (tablets, syrup);
salmeterol (aerosol, powder for inhalation);

The following drugs are used to relax the bronchi:

atrovent - ipratropium bromide (inhaler, capsules, injection solution).
Combined drugs:
berodual (aerosol, solution for inhalers);
ditec (inhalation solution)
Methylxanthines

Short term:

eufillin (tablets, intravenous injections).

Long acting:

euphylong (capsules);
teopec (tablets).

Breathing aids for asthma:

sodium cromoglycate (inhaler, capsules);
nedocromil sodium (inhaler);
nalcrom (capsules).

There are other drugs, but any of them should only be prescribed by a medical specialist. Self-medication in severe forms of shortness of breath can lead to very serious consequences.

Folk remedies for shortness of breath

In the piggy bank of folk remedies there are recipes that will help expand the bronchi and relieve shortness of breath.

An infusion of fruits and flowers of hawthorn, mixed one to one, is made as follows: pour three large spoons of the collection with three glasses of boiling water, divide into three doses within one day.
Oil from honey and juniper. Juniper cones (100 g) + butter (50 g) + honey (150 g) soar in a water bath. Take two large spoons with tea daily.
Lilac flowers (one large spoon) is poured with a glass of boiling water. Drink four times a day, two large spoons.

Simple breathing exercises can help with shortness of breath, whatever the cause.

After exhaling air through the mouth, you need to inhale it through the nose, then exhale with force through the mouth and draw in the stomach, count to ten. Inhale through the mouth so that the air goes "into the stomach", then draw in the stomach and hold the breath, counting to ten. This exercise can be performed while sitting, standing and even walking: exhale - inhale - exhale - hold your breath - exhale.
The next exercise should be done standing or sitting, bending your elbows. Open your palms so you can see them. The fists are clenched with effort while producing noisy short breaths (8 times). Then lower your hands for five to ten seconds and do the exercise again. The required number of approaches is up to twenty.

You can get acquainted with other exercises from the instructor in therapeutic gymnastics. If you perform them regularly, you can say goodbye to shortness of breath forever.

An example of exercises for breathing exercises on video

Prevention of shortness of breath

In order not to get such a problem and not to look for ways to get rid of it later, it is better to think about it in advance and prevent the onset of those diseases that are its root cause. To do this, you should follow simple life rules:

Maintain a normal psycho-emotional state.
Give up bad habits (alcohol, smoking and others).
Be sure to give the body a reasonable regular physical activity - it can be morning exercises, walking, climbing stairs, swimming, etc.
Control the correct position of the body during sleep - the head should lie on the pillow at an angle of 35-40 degrees.
If symptoms of shortness of breath appear, you should immediately consult a doctor and follow all his recommendations.
Perform breathing exercises before the onset of shortness of breath - it never hurts.

There are many tips, medicines and natural remedies that cannot be covered in one article. It will be very interesting if you share your experience of getting rid of shortness of breath in the comments. Perhaps your advice will make life easier for someone.

Shortness of breath (dyspnea) when walking is not an independent disease. The feeling of lack of air due to insufficient depth of breathing occurs as a result of various diseases or for natural reasons. If shortness of breath appears only during enhanced training and is not accompanied by other symptoms, in this case it is enough to reduce physical activity. If you have chest pain or other discomfort, seek medical attention.

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Causes

The causes of shortness of breath, if it is not physiological, are usually various diseases. These include:

1. Pathologies of the cardiovascular system. Shortness of breath occurs with angina pectoris, arterial hypertension, myocardial infarction, thoracic aortic aneurysm, etc. Most often this is a sign of heart failure. By additional signs, one can judge what shortness of breath is associated with in a particular case. If it is accompanied by chest pain, it may be a symptom of myocardial infarction. In the presence of asthma attacks, thoracic aortic dissection is suspected.
2. Diseases of the respiratory system. These are pneumonia, pleurisy, tracheitis, bronchitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The latter used to develop most often in older people, but today it also occurs in young people.
3. Various diseases of the nervous system, including neuroses and conditions accompanied by feelings of anxiety and obsessive fears, etc.
4. Diseases of the blood.
5. Oncological diseases.

There are other reasons that cause shortness of breath. This is overweight, hernia of the esophagus, osteochondrosis. There are also combined cases when a whole range of causes causes dyspnea. This condition may be a symptom of tachycardia caused by thyroid pathologies.

Inspiratory dyspnea - what is it: causes, symptoms, treatment

Symptoms

Symptoms of shortness of breath differ depending on the cause of its occurrence. If a person has difficulty breathing, this may indicate heart disease. If discomfort occurs with exhalation, it is bronchial asthma or COPD.

When it is difficult to do both, one can suspect a violation of the respiratory system in the form of restriction of the mobility of the chest and lungs, which happens with obesity. In any case, it is necessary to conduct a comprehensive examination.

Treatment and prevention

Physiological shortness of breath is a natural phenomenon. It usually occurs after strenuous physical activity, during which the body requires much more oxygen than usual, and is accompanied by an increased heart rate. To cope with physiological shortness of breath, it is enough to change the approach to training. You need to start it with a 15-minute warm-up, increase the load gradually. This approach is needed not within the framework of one lesson, but constantly. At the same time, physical activity should be regular. It is important to breathe correctly when performing all exercises: inhale through the nose, exhale through the mouth. Sometimes you may need to change your sport, such as running for swimming.

Treatment of pathological dyspnea is carried out by both conservative and surgical methods. The main role in it is played by the elimination of the disease that caused dyspnea. If shortness of breath is caused by bronchial obstruction (bronchial asthma and COPD), bronchodilator therapy is used. These are drugs that dilate the bronchi. These include products such as Clenbuterol syrup, tiotropium bromide, Atrovent and others. Only a doctor can prescribe a specific remedy.

Other treatments for shortness of breath are also used:

1. Oxygen. This therapy is prescribed for COPD. It can be used even at home. For this, special cylinders, containers for liquid oxygen or even oxygen concentrators are produced, which are the most convenient to use.
2. Physical exercise. Training is considered an effective means for the rehabilitation of patients after respiratory diseases. They are also useful in COPD. In this case, not all physical exercises are suitable, but only those specially designed for such pathologies.
3. Taking anxiolytics. These are drugs that reduce the manifestations of fears, anxiety, emotional stress.
4. Maintain a constant positive airway pressure. Usually this method is called by its English abbreviation - СРАР. Such therapy is carried out using a special sealed mask and an air flow generator.

A set of exercises is prescribed depending on what caused shortness of breath - heart failure or COPD. Respiratory gymnastics is carried out only if there are no contraindications - hypertension, severe cardiovascular diseases.

All these methods belong to conservative therapy. But sometimes a surgical reduction (reduction) of lung volume is also performed.

Exercise for the elderly

Breathing exercises should be aimed at improving gas exchange and lung function. The exercises are simple, as they are designed, including for the elderly. If dyspnoea is associated with COPD and other lung diseases, resistance expiration may be used. It is performed at any stage of the disease, even with an exacerbation. You need a jar filled with water and a straw. During the exercise, a deep breath is taken through the nose, after which you need to exhale as slowly as possible through your mouth through a straw. This procedure should be repeated for 10-15 minutes 4-5 times a day.

Another exercise is done in a sitting position on the edge of a chair. The hands are placed on the knees. It is necessary to simultaneously bend and unbend the ankle and wrist joints. 10-12 repetitions are recommended.

In a sitting position on a chair, you can also carry out the following gymnastics: take a deep breath, then exhale smoothly and hold your breath for as long as your health allows. Then repeat the whole cycle. If discomfort occurs, the exercise is stopped. In total, its execution should take no more than a minute.

Folk remedies

Treatment of shortness of breath with folk remedies does not help get rid of the cause of this condition, but simply relieves unpleasant symptoms.

Therefore, such methods can only be used in addition to the main therapy. You must first consult with your doctor.

Contraindications

There are situations in which the treatment of shortness of breath with folk remedies is contraindicated. These include:

rapid breathing, in which there is no compensation for the lack of air;
severe shortness of breath, accompanied by swelling of the limbs and pain in the chest;
wheezing and severe cough;
previously diagnosed chronic diseases of the cardiovascular or respiratory systems.

Any herbal remedy can cause allergies. When signs of it appear, taking such a medicine should be stopped.

Recipes

If the patient has no contraindications and individual intolerance to the components of the drug, various recipes can be used to treat shortness of breath. Horse chestnut inflorescences will help with shortness of breath caused by bronchial problems, and motherwort tincture is suitable for treating a condition caused by cardiovascular diseases.

The following remedies help fight shortness of breath:

1. Reed tincture. To prepare it, you need to pour a glass of crushed plant panicles with a liter of boiling water and insist for several hours. The resulting tincture should be taken 4 times a day in a glass. The tool is used for a long time, at least 3 weeks.
2. Tincture of sunflower inflorescences. The remedy helps to get rid of shortness of breath, regardless of what it was caused by. It is prepared in this way: for 100 g of dry sunflower petals, take 400 ml of vodka. Infuse the mixture in a dark place for two weeks. Take tinctures 3 times a day, 35 drops after meals.
3. Astragalus herb tincture. For 1 st. l. crushed vegetable raw materials you need to take a glass of boiling water. The remedy is insisted for one and a half hours, and then filtered. You need to take a tincture of a quarter cup before meals 4 times a day.
4. Tincture of inflorescences of horse chestnut helps with problems associated with the bronchi. For 50 ml of medical alcohol, you need to take 1 tsp. dry plant material. The tincture is left in a dark place for one week. It should be taken twice a day, 30 drops in a glass of water. Drink tincture before meals.
5. Motherwort. There are several recipes based on it. You can make motherwort tincture from 1 tbsp. l. herbs in a glass of boiling water. This remedy is insisted all night, and in the morning you can already drink it. It is better to wait until the evening and drink it before going to bed, because the tincture helps not only with bronchial asthma and hypertension, but also with diseases of the central nervous system (central nervous system). Fresh motherwort juice has proven itself well. To prepare the remedy from it, you need to take 30 drops in a quarter glass of water. To keep the juice longer, it can be mixed with ethyl alcohol. This tincture is taken 40 drops per day for 2 tbsp. l. pure water.

Remedies for shortness of breath caused by heart failure

Other agents may be used in the treatment of dyspnoea associated with heart failure. The most popular are:

1. Tincture of walnut partitions. Purified raw materials (1 glass) are poured into a glass container and poured with vodka. The vessel is tightly closed with a lid so that the alcohol does not erode. Then it is placed in a dark cool place for 3 weeks. Periodically shake the tincture. The finished product is used for 1 tbsp. l. a day with water.
2. Tincture of birch leaves. To prepare the product 2 tbsp. l. freshly picked and crushed leaves are poured with a glass of boiling water and infused for half an hour. Then the tincture is filtered and 1/2 teaspoon of soda is added. The entire volume is divided into several equal portions and drunk during the day. Every day you need to brew a fresh remedy.
3. Tincture of wormwood. Wormwood seeds are poured vegetable oil, not refined, in a ratio of 1:4. The resulting remedy is used in the morning on an empty stomach. To do this, 3 drops of the oil composition are applied to a piece of sugar and the cube is absorbed like a lollipop for several minutes.
4. Grapes. You need to use it in pure form. It is advisable to use red berries, as they contain more substances useful for the heart and blood vessels. It is recommended to consume 100 g of grapes per day, after which you should not eat other food.

Medicinal teas from blackberries, stems of young nettles help from any shortness of breath. They are prepared in the same way as ordinary tea - 3-4 tsp. raw materials are poured into a kettle with boiling water and left for 10-15 minutes. In the pharmacy, you can buy a special herbal collection based on thyme, motherwort, cudweed and crushed blackberry leaves. To make the taste more pleasant, you can add honey to it.

We slightly accelerated the step, and immediately felt how our breath was lost, and there was not enough air ... Familiar? Shortness of breath is a problem faced by many, regardless of gender and age. This cannot be called an independent disease, but a symptom of quite serious ailments - completely. There is a failure of breathing and at rest, but most of all, shortness of breath when walking worries, its causes are quite extensive. Why does it arise, and how to deal with it?

What is shortness of breath and how does it manifest?

Not every shortness of breath can be attributed to shortness of breath. For example, having risen quickly to the fifth floor or ran a hundred meters, an absolutely healthy person will breathe heavily. Such situations do not apply to the problem under consideration. True shortness of breath (or otherwise - dyspnea) is a pathological change in breathing, manifested by an increase (or decrease) and a change in the depth of breathing, in which a lack of oxygen is sharply felt. It can also occur due to physiological causes, and as a manifestation of certain diseases (more often - cardiac and pulmonary), as well as during pregnancy, obesity, asthma, etc. In the international classification of diseases ICD-10, it is assigned the code R 06-8.

Symptoms

There is shortness of breath during exercise, walking, and in case of serious diseases - both at rest and in sleep. It is possible to recognize an ailment, even when faced with it for the first time.

Symptoms include:

feeling of tightness under the ribs, in the chest;
difficulty in fully inhaling or exhaling;
suffocation due to lack of air;
often - dizziness.

There are different types of shortness of breath, but conditionally they can be divided into 2 groups:

physiological;
pathological.

If the former are associated with the physical unpreparedness of the body for stress, then the latter are a variant of the manifestation of dysfunctions of the organs and systems of the body.

In addition, shortness of breath happens:

inspiratory, when interruptions in breathing occur on inspiration;
expiratory, when it is difficult to exhale.

Most often, inspiratory dyspnea is characteristic of people with bronchial asthma, diseases of the lungs and heart. Also, this condition can be provoked by a foreign object getting stuck in the airways (mainly in children). Opposite, expiratory dyspnea is typical for persons observed by a cardiologist and pulmonologist, as well as with a hysterical outburst, during pregnancy, with overweight. Sometimes there is also mixed shortness of breath caused by heart failure or pathology of the lungs.

Dyspnea is divided into types and, depending on the frequency of breathing per unit of time (usually a minute), into:

tachypnea, when breathing quickens, and 20 respiratory movements are noted per minute (for example, during hysteria, a person is able to breathe up to 80 times per minute, and this phenomenon is given the term "breath of a hunted animal");
bradypnea, when the frequency of respiratory movements is much less than normal (from 12 and below per minute), this condition occurs with brain pathologies, hypoxia, coma, etc.

Dyspnea is symptomatic during normal exertion, in cases of primary manifestation, for example, while walking on a straight surface with quick steps. Intense physical activity and heavy lifting are not taken into account.

When to see a doctor

If shortness of breath when walking in the elderly is a relatively variably normal phenomenon, then in youth this condition should alert. With a recurrence of this phenomenon, you should definitely visit a doctor for advice and further examination. Dyspnea is a symptom of many serious diseases, and you should not postpone a visit to the doctor. But what specialist will come to the rescue? First of all - a therapist or a family doctor. With previously diagnosed heart diseases, it does not hurt to make an appointment with a cardiologist, and for pathologies of the respiratory system - to a pulmonologist.

Diagnostics

For diagnosis, there are a variety of methods, including a visual examination of the patient, as well as laboratory and instrumental studies. The most common methods are:

physical: taking an anamnesis with the help of a conversation, examination, percussion, palpation of the patient;
study of biomaterial - blood, urine in the laboratory;
radiography;
tomography (computer or magnetic resonance;

When taking an anamnesis, such information as the characteristics of dyspnea on inhalation and exhalation, its intensity, the presence / absence of a heredity factor, chronic heart and lung diseases, and the dependence of the manifestation of dyspnea on body position and load are important. So, there are several degrees of dyspnea:

zero: with it, significant physical exertion is required for the manifestation of respiratory failure;
first: this mild degree manifests itself irregularly, for example, with intensive walking up the stairs, etc .;
the second, medium, in which, due to breathing difficulties, slowness of movements is manifested, forced stops when walking;
the third severe degree, in which the patient is not able to continuously overcome 100 meters with a simple step;
an extremely severe degree is manifested by the fact that shortness of breath appears even with minimal exertion and even at rest - this is the fourth stage.

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Shortness of breath when walking: causes and types of dyspnea

In medical language, shortness of breath when walking in young and old people may have an additional "species" term. There are such types of dyspnea as: pulmonary, hematogenous, cardiac, central. All of them have different manifestations and causes.

Pulmonary dyspnea

Inspiratory dyspnea is a condition when fluid accumulates in the chest, the breath is accompanied by a whistle, the patient is unable to speak for a long time. Expiratory dyspnea is manifested by a narrowing of the lumen in the bronchi, difficulties arise during exhalation.

Hematogenous dyspnea

Hematogenous dyspnea is diagnosed in diseases of the hematopoietic system and blood. Often, the causes of shortness of breath are poisoning with toxins, diabetes, liver dysfunction, anemia. For diagnosis, a biochemical blood test is required.

Cardiac dyspnea

One of the most common types of dyspnea is shortness of breath in heart failure and other pathologies of the heart, such as mitral stenosis, myxoma, ischemia, infarction, etc. Dyspnea occurs due to impaired blood circulation, leading to impaired respiratory function. The characteristic signs of dyspnea of the heart include syndromes:

orthopnea, characterized by the fact that the patient needs a vertical position to facilitate well-being, which usually occurs with pathologies of the left ventricle or left atrium;
polypnea, in which both the respiratory rate and its depth are increased, fraught with hyperventilation of the lungs, which often happens with chronic heart failure, and the patient is most comfortable in the supine position.

Prolonged lack of treatment of this type of shortness of breath is manifested by the appearance of pain in the heart, pallor of the extremities, blue nasolabial triangle.

Central dyspnea

Central dyspnea worries patients with pathology of the central nervous system with damage to the respiratory center in the medulla oblongata (lower part of the brain). In this case, not any diseases cause dyspnea, but it itself provokes such symptoms as: arrhythmia, slowing down or quickening of breathing, etc.

Shortness of breath: treatment

When diagnosing shortness of breath, treatment is prescribed depending on the type of dyspnea and the reasons for its occurrence. Therapy is aimed at eliminating the underlying disease. So, for example, cardiac shortness of breath is treated with the use of drugs that normalize the activity of the cardiovascular system, and in case of lung diseases, it is important to eliminate the lung disease.

In addition, the following are important:

quitting tobacco and alcohol;
proper nutrition;
drinking enough fluids (especially soft alkaline drinks);
breathing exercises;
well-dosed physical activity, etc.

It is also important to avoid secondhand smoke in order to get rid of shortness of breath, so work in places where smoking is not prohibited should be changed if possible.

You should not sound the alarm if shortness of breath when walking haunts pregnant women (especially in the last trimester), since the condition usually returns to normal after childbirth.

Oxygen therapy

Oxygen therapy is considered an effective method of getting rid of shortness of breath. It is indicated for pulmonary dyspnea. Oxygen therapy is indicated for all types of dyspnea. Dyspnea is characterized by inadequate supply of oxygen to the cells of the brain, lungs and blood, and the use of oxygen concentrators can increase the level of concentration of oxygen molecules in the air and alleviate shortness of breath. However, this method does not eliminate the disease itself, in which dyspnea is only an alarming symptom.

Folk remedies

A good help in getting rid of shortness of breath are traditional medicine.

Hawthorn: an infusion of fruits and inflorescences in equal proportions is prepared by pouring a tablespoon of raw materials with a glass of boiling water. Take ½ cup three times a day.
A similar infusion is prepared from the color of lilac in the same proportions. Take every 6 hours, 2 tablespoons of decoction.
Goat milk is hot on an empty stomach. Add a teaspoon of honey to a glass of milk. The course of treatment is up to a month.

It is best to use folk recipes in addition to the main drug therapy.

Prevention

So that shortness of breath when walking and physical exertion does not overshadow life, the best prevention is training: walking, running, exercising in the gym. These methods help to strengthen both the whole organism and the respiratory system as a whole. Adhering to a healthy lifestyle with moderate physical activity, giving up bad habits that destroy the body are the first steps towards eliminating dyspnea.

With shortness of breath provoked by a violation of the function of internal organs, the best preventive measure is timely diagnosis and treatment. Shortness of breath when walking, the causes of which are pathological in nature, is a reason for constant monitoring by a specialist. Breathe evenly! And be healthy!

Today we will talk about the causes, symptoms and treatment of shortness of breath, but first you need to decide what is shortness of breath?

Shortness of breath is a reaction of the body in response to an insufficient supply of oxygen to the blood (hypoxia). It is manifested by a painful feeling of lack of air, tightness in the chest in combination with a compensatory increase in the frequency and depth of respiratory movements. Usually combined with

In severe cases, it can result in suffocation.

Shortness of breath in the people is also known as shortness of breath, shortness of breath. In medical science, it is called dyspnea. It is not a disease, an independent nosological form. This is just a symptom that accompanies various pathological processes that take place in the body.

Shortness of breath symptoms and types

What is shortness of breath? Signs of shortness of breath?

The human respiratory mechanism consists of the phases of inhalation and exhalation. Depending on when shortness of breath occurs, it can be:

- inspiratory dyspnea. Its appearance is associated with the moment of inhalation;
- expiratory dyspnea. This type is associated with the appearance of it at the time of exhalation;
- mixed type.

Being a symptom of any pathological process, the intensity of the resulting shortness of breath is directly related to the severity of the underlying process. The appearance of such a condition can be observed in the absence of pathology, under normal physiological conditions.

Physiological causes of shortness of breath

If shortness of breath appears at rest, then this is definitely not normal, but strong shortness of breath with fast walking, running, physical exertion often occurs against the background of hypodynamia, detraining, in a state of stress.

Another non-pathological temporary causes of acute hypoxia include a long stay in a stuffy room.

With increased physical stress and other temporary conditions, organs and tissues require an increased amount of oxygen for the normal flow of various biochemical reactions in them. This is a compensatory mechanism for protecting the body in response to stress and exceeding age-related load norms.

The main causes of shortness of breath

Why does it appear, there is shortness of breath?

There are many reasons for shortness of breath. All of them are associated with a violation of the activity of body systems, due to functional changes or organic damage.

Most of all, with the appearance of shortness of breath, pathologies of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems can be suspected ...

Pathology of the heart and blood vessels

IN normal conditions Approximately 5.5 liters of blood circulate freely in the body. In addition, another 1.5 liters is in the depot.

Blood performs many functions, but one of the main ones is the delivery of oxygen to organs and tissues. This is due to the presence of hemoglobin and red blood cells in the blood.

The heart must pump this amount of blood in the body in 1 minute. If for some reason it does not cope with this task, then the blood supply to organs and tissues will be insufficient, and, consequently, they will receive less oxygen. Oxygen deficiency or oxygen starvation is called hypoxia.

In response to this, the work of the respiratory organs becomes more intense. They are trying to fix the problem somehow. As a result, breathing becomes faster and shortness of breath occurs. And it appears because, despite the fact that breathing becomes more frequent, its depth still suffers.

Shortness of breath associated with insufficiency of the heart or cardiac dyspnea

Heart failure is not understood as a specific disease, but as conditions leading to it. For shortness of breath, which occurs precisely for this reason, its appearance is characteristic when walking and various physical activities.

Over time, shortness of breath in heart failure can occur even at rest. Along with shortness of breath, may appear, which usually appear in the evening and at night. In the heart itself, there may be a periodic nature of pain, interruptions in work. The skin becomes pale with a bluish tinge. The patient complains of general weakness, fatigue and malaise.

Hypertonic disease

Helps increase the load on the heart. With an increase in pressure, the lumen of the peripheral vessels is narrowed. Naturally, to push the blood, the heart will need much more effort.

Initially, in the compensation stage, the heart muscle copes with its task, but all this is up to a certain limit. Over time, when the disease passes into another stage, the heart can no longer fully cope with the function assigned to it. Less blood is pumped. Organs and tissues receive less oxygen. There is shortness of breath.

Objectively, in such patients, reddening of the face can be noted. Subjectively, patients note flies before their eyes, headaches and dizziness, decreased performance and deterioration in general condition. The heart works intermittently.

myocardial infarction

This condition belongs to the category of urgent and is associated with a sharp deterioration in the activity of the heart. During such conditions, severe shortness of breath is always present. In addition, they are noted The pains are strong, pronounced, have a stabbing character. Patients are seized by a feeling of intense fear.

Respiratory pathology

The human lungs consist of a branched system, the bronchi, forming the bronchial tree. The main structural unit is the alveolus.

For some reason, their clearance may narrow. This may be due to both functional disorders and organic damage, leading to destructive changes in the lung tissue.

As a result, all this leads to the fact that less air, and with it oxygen, enters the lungs. This circumstance again leads to increased respiration and the occurrence of shortness of breath.

Pulmonary edema

If there is a lack of function from the left ventricle, pulmonary edema may develop. At the same time, shortness of breath is pronounced and can turn into suffocation. The patient's breathing can be heard even from the side. It becomes bubbling, wheezing appears. Able to join cough. It has a moist character with sputum production. The patient is able to turn blue in front of his eyes. Help in such conditions is urgent.

Bronchitis

This disease is associated with inflammation of the bronchi, which is usually caused by the action of pathogenic microflora. The course can be acute and chronic and is always associated with shortness of breath. The disease may be accompanied by sputum production and spasm of the respiratory muscles. In this case, patients are shown the appointment of expectorants and antispasmodics.

Pneumonia

It is a disease associated with inflammation of the lung tissue. The cause of the occurrence, as a rule, is the effect of pathogenic microflora. Along with the symptoms characteristic of any inflammatory process, shortness of breath is certainly present. As a rule, shortness of breath with this pathology of a mixed nature. Patients report pain in the chest area. The skin becomes pale with a bluish tinge. In severe cases, heart failure may join.

Anemia of a different nature

It is characterized by a decrease in the number of red blood cells and hemoglobin in the blood, which are responsible for the respiratory function of the blood. The reduced content of such blood elements causes the circumstance in which they are unable to supply organs and tissues with oxygen in sufficient quantities.

Trying to somehow compensate for this, the body triggers reactions that cause shortness of breath.

What else causes shortness of breath

Often shortness of breath develops against the background of intense smoking.

Some other diseases can also cause a similar symptom - obesity (then shortness of breath occurs after eating), some thyroid diseases, for example, hyperthyroidism, thyrotoxicosis, diffuse and large, occur with edema and neoplasms of the larynx, even with foreign bodies stuck in pharynx.

, and even more actually panic attacks are also accompanied by shortness of breath,.

Even shortness of breath can cause poisoning, including liver failure, coma in diabetes.

Shortness of breath can even occur with thoracic osteochondrosis, symptoms of lack of oxygen and tightness in the chest are combined with pain in the heart area, when raising the arms;
Often this symptom occurs during long gestation periods, when there is large fruit or multiple pregnancy. Or with cardiac pathologies of a woman who is expecting a child.

First aid for shortness of breath

Call a doctor;

lay the patient on his side or give him a semi-sitting position;

provide access to fresh air or give (if available) an oxygen cushion;

unfasten clothing that restricts the throat;

warm the limbs with a heating pad, hot water bottle or massage;

with cough accompanying an attack of shortness of breath - press for 1-2 minutes a reflex point in the jugular fossa (the base of the neck in front, the place where the collarbones meet).

Treatment of shortness of breath with folk remedies and preventive measures

How to treat shortness of breath?

Treatment begins with the treatment of the underlying disease that caused the onset of shortness of breath and the appointment various means that help relieve symptoms.

Folk methods of getting rid of shortness of breath are combined with methods of traditional medicine - giving an oxygen mask, taking oxygen cocktails, parenteral and oral administration of medicinal substances.

with the neurogenic nature of the occurrence of shortness of breath (after stress), a course of valerian, motherwort, lemon balm, mint is indicated;

after an exacerbation, dosed physical activity, exercise therapy, Nordic walking in the fresh air, or at least just walking, are possible;

normalization of nutrition, restriction of salty foods and layers in principle;

Symptomatic help for shortness of breath (especially of cardiac origin) can be provided by:

warm with honey - regular intake for a month;

reception 2 months - see the recipe here;

taking a mixture of natural honey (liter), 10 chopped lemons and 2 heads (not cloves) of garlic. Stir, insist for a month, take 4 teaspoons for 2 months in the morning on an empty stomach;

brewing dry dill (2 teaspoons per glass of boiling water) - drink the entire infusion in small portions throughout the day, course 2 weeks;

taking drugs (Cardiovalen, Bekhterev's mixture) as a means of reducing shortness of breath, especially cardiac in nature, sedative action, it is taken in drops, 30 drops 2-3 times a day.

Dyspnea is shortness of breath, which is familiar to every person. It can appear at almost any age with sufficiently high physical exertion. The degree of their intensity, at which shortness of breath occurs, depends on the condition of the person. In any case, when shortness of breath appears when walking or climbing 2-3 floors, this is definitely an occasion to think and take care of your health.

When is shortness of breath considered normal?

Shortness of breath during sports, although not always pleasant, is not always a cause for concern. When physical activity is high enough, rapid breathing is a physiological norm for every person, including a child. It can be caused by intensive climbing stairs, fast swimming for long distances, working with heavy weights in the gym.

Even the most healthy and physically prepared person will have an accelerated heart rate and faster breathing. At the same time, during the transition to a state of rest, shortness of breath should quickly disappear along with a feeling of lack of oxygen.

The appearance of shortness of breath

Shortness of breath in any of its manifestations is a specific symptom, which is characterized by certain external signs, namely:

feeling of acute lack of air, easy suffocation;
increasing the depth of inhalations and exhalations;
rapid breathing and heart rate.

Everyone knows this, but shortness of breath appears with little or significant physical exertion, as the body strives to maintain the right level of oxygen for normal life. As a result, respiratory contractions are accelerated.

The signal about the lack of oxygen, which passes through the lungs and heart, enters the human brain. The respiratory center is activated, giving a command to accelerate inhalations and exhalations. The less trained a person is, the more often shortness of breath will occur during movement, even slight. It is not difficult to overcome such a condition, but first we will analyze the pathological causes in which people complain of shortness of breath with minimal physical exertion, for example, when climbing to the second floor.

Factors contributing to shortness of breath

To provoke shortness of breath when playing sports, and not only can not only high-intensity exercises or loads, but also individual disorders in the body, including:

allergic reactions;
cardiovascular pathologies;
obesity;
lung diseases;
blood infections;
panic attacks;
problems in the hormonal system;
heavy smoking;
physiological deviations, due to which the passage of air flows through the nasopharynx is impaired.

Many people ignore the appearance of shortness of breath and weakness with exertion and movement, but sometimes it is an alarming symptom. If rapid breathing becomes a constant companion, it is better to pay attention to this and undergo a diagnostic examination. The main reasons why there are complaints of excessive shortness of breath even with low exertion are:

Heart diseases. The most common cause of the disease, especially in adulthood. The heart ceases to cope with the functions assigned to it, due to which the flow of oxygen to internal organs and systems weakens. This negatively affects the brain, and breathing quickens even when walking long distances or at a high pace.
Diseases of the bronchi and lungs. Another common factor that stimulates shortness of breath. The phenomenon is due to the narrowing of the bronchi and changes in the lung structures. Because of this, the required amount of oxygen does not enter the blood. Under these conditions, the respiratory system works more intensively, that is, breathing quickens.
Anemia. The patient can have a normal enrichment of the blood with oxygen molecules, as the lungs and heart function normally. All tissues and organs receive a sufficient amount of blood, but there is a problem of lack of hemoglobin and red blood cells in its composition. Against this background, the blood flow ceases to deliver the required amount of oxygen to cells and tissues, and shortness of breath appears.

The best option is the prevention of shortness of breath, which comes down to following general recommendations. Many of them will help even in the presence of pathologies and diseases that stimulate rapid breathing. Remember a few rules:

Try to control your emotions and not be nervous, as often shortness of breath during physical exertion is caused by an unbalanced emotional background.
Give up such bad habits as smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol. This negatively affects the respiratory system, and shortness of breath appears even at the slightest exertion.
Go in for sports, and do it regularly. Start with morning exercises or jogging, or better, sign up for a pool or gym. Any physical activity is the prevention of shortness of breath, but it is important to make sure that there are no health problems that may be contraindications to certain sports.
Practice breathing exercises.
Do not postpone a visit to the clinic for examination and consultation with a doctor. Especially hurry if complaints of shortness of breath become more frequent and begin to appear even when walking, and additional weakness occurs.

There are many methods and tips to combat shortness of breath. It is impossible to describe each of them in detail within the framework of one article, so start by following the recommendations above. In most cases, this is enough for shortness of breath to occur less frequently.

Shortness of breath on exertion: causes and treatment

It is extremely rare for a person to think about how he breathes. This is quite natural if he is completely healthy. But if there is often a feeling of tightness in the chest, lack of air, then you should seriously think about it. Such sensations are known to almost everyone. After all, most often there is shortness of breath during physical exertion. The causes of this condition can be quite diverse, ranging from completely harmless factors to serious pathologies.

Mechanism of dyspnea

First of all, it should be understood that this is a symptomatology, which is characterized by three external signs:

the patient feels a lack of air, he has a feeling of suffocation;
there is a change in the depth of inhalation, exhalation, noise is heard;
breathing becomes quite frequent.

This condition is familiar to many people, as they often experience shortness of breath during exertion. The reasons for this phenomenon lie in the desire of the body to maintain the level of oxygen necessary for life. As a result, respiratory contractions are accelerated. The signal about the lack of oxygen, the main suppliers of which are the lungs and the heart, enters the brain. The respiratory center is activated. It gives a signal about the need to accelerate the inhalation-exhalation.
Such a state is familiar to every person. Shortness of breath after exercise is a normal reaction of an untrained body. It can occur after brisk walking, jogging, serious cleaning. After such a load, there is a desire to catch your breath, take a breath.
This condition is fairly easy to deal with. You need to start exercising. Especially those people who lead a sedentary lifestyle. After all, their muscular system functions at half strength. Accordingly, these contractions are not enough to support the functioning of the heart. Therefore, performing tasks of the same difficulty, physically trained people are less prone to feeling short of breath than those who suffer from physical inactivity.

When should you be concerned?

Obviously, shortness of breath during physical exertion, the causes of which are hidden in low mobility, can be eliminated quite easily. However, is this symptom always the result of such a harmless phenomenon?
Unfortunately, sometimes severe shortness of breath during physical exertion can be a sign of the development of serious pathologies. It is quite difficult to independently determine when this symptom portends adverse factors.
You can suspect the presence of the disease as follows. For example, a person does the same route every day. One day he notices that it has become difficult for him to walk. At the same time, he moves at his usual pace. There is a need to stand a little and catch your breath. Such movement with periodic stops is the first symptom of trouble. Indeed, as a result of normal physical activity, an increase in the frequency of breathing occurs.

There are several reasons that can cause such problems in the body.

Sources that provoke shortness of breath

Many reasons can provoke this phenomenon. Quite common sources of such discomfort are:

pathologies of the cardiovascular system;
various allergies;
obesity;
lung disease;
psychogenic factors (aggression, anger);
serious blood infections;
climate change;
panic attacks;
hormonal disbalance;
smoking;
physiological disorders that prevent the passage of air through the nose, mouth or throat.

Very often, people do not pay much attention to anxiety symptoms. And he practically does not think why shortness of breath during physical exertion began to occur more often. This phenomenon is attributed to the environment, hard work, bad habits. Ignoring this issue is completely wrong.
Doctors say that in people who suffer from severe shortness of breath during physical exertion, the following pathologies are most often diagnosed during the examination:

Heart disease. This is one of the common causes of this phenomenon, especially among older people. The heart muscle is not able to cope with its functions. As a result, the flow of oxygen to the organs is reduced. The brain also suffers from this. Such disturbances lead to rapid breathing.

Diseases of the lungs, bronchi. These are fairly common causes of shortness of breath. The phenomenon is provoked by the narrowing of the bronchi, changes in the lung tissue, as a result of which the required amount of oxygen cannot enter the blood. Under such conditions, the respiratory system begins to work in intensive mode.

Anemia. The patient has a normal blood oxygenation due to the proper functioning of the lungs. The heart also copes with its function. It normally pushes oxygen to all organs and tissues. However, there is a shortage of hemoglobin and erythrocytes (red cells), as a result of which the bloodstream does not bring the required amount of oxygen to the tissues.

Heart pathologies

Diseases of the cardiovascular system in most cases are accompanied by such an unpleasant symptom as shortness of breath. Among the pathologies that can provoke this phenomenon, the following are distinguished:

heart failure;
hypertension;
myocardial infarction;
paroxysmal tachycardia;
pulmonary embolism;
ischemic disease;
angina;
ruptured aortic aneurysm.

Heart failure

In this case, shortness of breath is observed with little physical exertion. For example, this condition can occur while walking. With further progression of the pathology, shortness of breath persists for a long time, including at rest and during sleep.
As a rule, this condition is accompanied by the following symptoms:

swelling of the legs;
heartache;
bluish tinge of fingers, nose, feet, earlobes;
intermittent palpitations;
reduced or increased pressure;
fatigue, weakness;
dizziness, periodic fainting;
dry cough that occurs paroxysmal.

Hypertonic disease

High blood pressure causes overload of the heart. As a result, the pumping function of the organ is disrupted. This causes shortness of breath. Prolonged ignoring of this problem significantly aggravates the patient's condition and leads to the development of heart failure. The patient often has shortness of breath after exercise, even a small one. And with a hypertensive crisis, the symptoms are significantly enhanced.

With this disease, along with shortness of breath and high blood pressure, the following series of symptoms occur:

redness of the face;
dizziness;
fast fatiguability;
periodic pain in the heart;
flickering spots before the eyes;
headache;
noise in ears.

myocardial infarction

A dangerous acute condition is characterized by the death of a certain part of the heart. The functioning of the body deteriorates sharply. Seriously obstructed blood flow. As a result of the lack of oxygen, the patient experiences severe shortness of breath.
Myocardial infarction has a characteristic symptomatology that makes it quite easy to determine this condition:

pain in the heart (stabbing, cutting);
cold clammy sweat;
pallor;
interruptions in the functioning of the heart;
panic feeling of fear;
drop in blood pressure.

Pulmonary dyspnea

Airway obstruction causes difficulty in passing air. Thus, shortness of breath occurs (even with a small load). Its appearance is associated with the difficulty of the normal penetration of oxygen through the walls of the alveoli into the bloodstream. It should be noted that this symptom is present in almost all pathologies of the bronchi and lungs.
Most often shortness of breath is caused by the following diseases:

bronchitis;
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease;
pneumonia;
bronchial asthma;
tumors.

Signs of bronchitis

In the case of this pathology, even with a slight physical exertion, shortness of breath appears. This characteristic symptom bronchitis. This phenomenon is observed in both acute and chronic pathology.

If obstructive bronchitis is diagnosed, then the patient has difficulty exhaling. The chronic form of the disease can lead to constant shortness of breath or to periodic exacerbations.

obstructive pulmonary disease

This pathology is characterized by a narrowing of the lumen in the bronchi. This causes shortness of breath. It should be said that this is the main symptom of this pathology. The question arises: what causes this disease, and with it unpleasant symptoms, in particular shortness of breath during physical exertion?
The causes of the development of obstructive disease lie in exposure to harmful irritants. Most often, this pathology is diagnosed in heavy smokers. The risk group for the development of this disease includes people working in hazardous industries.
The following features may indicate the development of pathology:

constant increase in shortness of breath;
the patient inhales easily, but exhales air very hard;
there is a wet cough with the presence of sputum.

Causes of pathology in children

It is very important to pay attention to when and how shortness of breath occurs during physical exertion in a child. If such a condition is observed after active outdoor games, while it quickly passes, there is no reason for concern. But if unpleasant symptoms occur even at rest, you should immediately consult a doctor.
Shortness of breath in children can be a sign of a wide variety of diseases:

laryngitis;
heart defects;
diseases of the respiratory system;
anemia;

Sometimes unpleasant symptoms signal the development of respiratory distress syndrome in the newborn. With this pathology, blood flow in the lungs is disturbed, resulting in edema. This disease can develop in an infant whose mother suffers from heart disease, diabetes. In such a crumb, frequent and extremely severe shortness of breath is observed. In this case, the skin turns pale or acquire a bluish tint.

Why can there be shortness of breath in a child (2.5 years) during physical exertion? The reasons may lie in anemia. It can be triggered by a violation of the absorption of iron, heredity or malnutrition.
In addition, shortness of breath can occur in babies even as a result of a common cold. It almost always accompanies diseases such as bronchitis, pneumonia, laryngitis. As a rule, the symptoms are eliminated on their own after the baby is completely cured of the disease that provoked it.

Treatment Methods

It is very important to understand that shortness of breath is not a disease, but a symptom that characterizes the development of a certain pathology in the body. That is why one should not resort to various methods, including folk, trying to eliminate such manifestations of the disease. You should look for the source that provokes it, and fight this disease.
Thus, until the causes of such a phenomenon as shortness of breath during physical exertion are found, the causes will not be treated. In addition, it should be realized that improper therapy can seriously harm the patient. That is why, if shortness of breath occurs, you should first consult a doctor.
The patient may need to consult the following specialists:
It is these doctors who should prescribe drug therapy.
Shortness of breath that occurs with heart failure is observed and treated by a cardiologist. It is extremely important to provide first aid in a timely manner if a person has developed an attack with heart pathologies:

Provide fresh air to the room.

The patient must be completely at rest.

If possible, relieve the patient's chest from squeezing.

The patient needs an oxygen bag to breathe.

Under the tongue should be given a tablet of "Nitrosorbid".

Diuretics are recommended.

If shortness of breath is provoked by a psychogenic factor, taking any sedative medication will bring significant relief to the patient. The same measures are appropriate for symptomatology provoked by VVD. It is important to understand that sedatives only temporarily relieve shortness of breath. They do not cure the underlying disease.
The complex treatment prescribed by the doctor can get rid of the unpleasant phenomenon in bronchitis.

It is possible to use folk remedies for the treatment of shortness of breath only if the painful symptoms occur sporadically, after extremely heavy loads. To combat this phenomenon, it is recommended to use a decoction of valerian, mint, lemon balm or motherwort tincture.

Preventive measures

Here's what to remember for people who periodically experience shortness of breath during exercise: treatment will only be effective if they themselves make some effort to do this. Recommended:

stop smoking;
try to avoid negative environmental conditions;
lead an active life;
strengthen immunity;
do sport;
timely treat various diseases (especially chronic pathologies of the heart and lungs).

Such measures will not only allow you to eliminate shortness of breath, but also save you from trouble in the future.

One of the main complaints most often voiced by patients is shortness of breath. This subjective feeling forces the patient to go to the clinic, call an ambulance and may even be an indication for emergency hospitalization. So what is shortness of breath and what are the main causes that cause it? You will find answers to these questions in this article. So…

What is shortness of breath

As mentioned above, shortness of breath (or dyspnea) is a subjective sensation of a person, an acute, subacute or chronic feeling of lack of air, manifested by tightness in the chest, clinically - an increase in the respiratory rate over 18 per minute and an increase in its depth.
A healthy person who is at rest does not pay attention to his breathing. With moderate physical exertion, the frequency and depth of breathing change - the person is aware of this, but this state does not cause him discomfort, besides, the respiratory rate returns to normal within a few minutes after the load is stopped. If shortness of breath with moderate exertion becomes more pronounced, or appears when a person performs elementary actions (when tying shoelaces, walking around the house), or, even worse, does not go away at rest, we are talking about pathological shortness of breath, indicating a particular disease .

Classification of dyspnea

If the patient is worried about difficulty in breathing, such shortness of breath is called inspiratory. It appears when the lumen of the trachea and large bronchi narrows (for example, in patients with bronchial asthma or as a result of compression of the bronchus from the outside - with pneumothorax, pleurisy, etc.).
If discomfort occurs during expiration, such shortness of breath is called expiratory. It occurs due to narrowing of the lumen of the small bronchi and is a sign of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or emphysema.
There are a number of reasons that cause mixed shortness of breath - with a violation of both inhalation and exhalation. The main among them are heart failure and lung disease in the late, advanced stages.
There are 5 degrees of severity of shortness of breath, determined on the basis of patient complaints - the MRC scale (Medical Research Council Dyspnea Scale).

Causes of shortness of breath

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

Respiratory failure due to:

violation of bronchial patency;
diffuse diseases of the tissue (parenchyma) of the lungs;
diseases of the vessels of the lungs;
diseases of the respiratory muscles or chest.

Heart failure.

Hyperventilation syndrome (with neurocirculatory dystonia and neuroses).

Metabolic disorders.

Shortness of breath with lung pathology

This symptom is observed in all diseases of the bronchi and lungs. Depending on the pathology, shortness of breath can occur acutely (pleurisy, pneumothorax) or disturb the patient for many weeks, months and years (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD).
Shortness of breath in COPD is due to narrowing of the airway lumen, the accumulation of viscous secretions in them. It is permanent, expiratory in nature and, in the absence of adequate treatment, becomes more and more pronounced. Often combined with a cough, followed by sputum discharge.
In bronchial asthma, shortness of breath manifests itself in the form of sudden attacks of suffocation. It has an expiratory character - a light short breath is followed by a noisy, labored exhalation. When you inhale special medicines that expand the bronchi, breathing quickly normalizes. Asphyxiation attacks usually occur after contact with allergens - by inhaling them or eating them. In especially severe cases, the attack is not stopped by bronchomimetics - the patient's condition progressively worsens, he loses consciousness. This is an extremely life-threatening condition that requires emergency medical attention.
Accompanying shortness of breath and acute infectious diseases - bronchitis and pneumonia. Its severity depends on the severity of the course of the underlying disease and the extent of the process. In addition to shortness of breath, the patient is worried about a number of other symptoms:

temperature increase from subfebrile to febrile digits;
weakness, lethargy, sweating and other symptoms of intoxication;
unproductive (dry) or productive (with phlegm) cough;
chest pain.

With timely treatment of bronchitis and pneumonia, their symptoms stop within a few days and recovery occurs. In severe cases of pneumonia, cardiac failure joins respiratory failure - shortness of breath increases significantly and some other characteristic symptoms appear.
Lung tumors in the early stages are asymptomatic. If a recently arisen tumor was not detected by chance (during prophylactic fluorography or as an accidental finding in the process of diagnosing non-pulmonary diseases), it gradually grows and, when it reaches a sufficiently large size, causes certain symptoms:

at first non-intense, but gradually increasing constant shortness of breath;
hacking cough with a minimum of sputum;
hemoptysis;
chest pain;
weight loss, weakness, pallor of the patient.

Treatment of lung tumors may include surgery to remove the tumor, chemotherapy and / or radiation therapy, and other modern treatment methods.
The greatest threat to the life of the patient is borne by such manifested dyspnea conditions as pulmonary embolism, or PE, local airway obstruction and toxic pulmonary edema.
PE is a condition in which one or more branches of the pulmonary artery are clogged with blood clots, as a result of which part of the lungs is excluded from the act of breathing. The clinical manifestations of this pathology depend on the extent of the lung lesion. Usually it is manifested by sudden shortness of breath, disturbing the patient with moderate or slight physical exertion or even at rest, a feeling of suffocation, tightness and chest pain, similar to that of angina pectoris, often hemoptysis. The diagnosis is confirmed by corresponding changes in the ECG, chest x-ray, and angiopulmography.
Airway obstruction is also manifested by the symptom complex of suffocation. Shortness of breath is inspiratory in nature, breathing is heard at a distance - noisy, stridor. A frequent companion of shortness of breath in this pathology is a painful cough, especially when changing the position of the body. The diagnosis is made on the basis of spirometry, bronchoscopy, x-ray or tomography.
Airway obstruction can be caused by:

violation of the patency of the trachea or bronchi due to compression of this organ from the outside (aortic aneurysm, goiter);
damage to the trachea or bronchi by a tumor (cancer, papillomas);
ingress (aspiration) of a foreign body;
formation of cicatricial stenosis;
chronic inflammation leading to destruction and fibrosis of the cartilaginous tissue of the trachea (with rheumatic diseases - systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, Wegener's granulomatosis).

Therapy with bronchodilators in this pathology is ineffective. The main role in the treatment belongs to adequate therapy of the underlying disease and mechanical restoration of airway patency.
Toxic pulmonary edema can occur against the background of an infectious disease, accompanied by severe intoxication, or due to exposure to toxic substances on the respiratory tract. At the first stage, this condition is manifested only by gradually increasing shortness of breath and rapid breathing. After some time, shortness of breath is replaced by painful suffocation, accompanied by bubbling breathing. The leading direction of treatment is detoxification.
The following lung diseases are less common with shortness of breath:

pneumothorax - an acute condition in which air enters the pleural cavity and lingers there, squeezing the lung and preventing the act of breathing; occurs due to injuries or infectious processes in the lungs; requires urgent surgical care;
pulmonary tuberculosis is a serious infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis; requires long-term specific treatment;
actinomycosis of the lungs - a disease caused by fungi;
emphysema - a disease in which the alveoli are stretched and lose their ability to normal gas exchange; develops as an independent form or accompanies other chronic respiratory diseases;
silicosis - a group of occupational lung diseases resulting from the deposition of dust particles in the lung tissue; recovery is impossible, the patient is prescribed supportive symptomatic therapy;
scoliosis, malformations of the thoracic vertebrae, ankylosing spondylitis - under these conditions, the shape of the chest is disturbed, which makes breathing difficult and causes shortness of breath.

Shortness of breath in the pathology of the cardiovascular system

Persons suffering from heart disease, one of the main complaints note shortness of breath. In the early stages of the disease, shortness of breath is perceived by patients as a feeling of lack of air during physical exertion, but over time this feeling is caused by less and less exertion, in advanced stages it does not leave the patient even at rest. In addition, advanced stages of heart disease are characterized by paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea - an attack of suffocation that develops at night, leading to the awakening of the patient. This condition is also known as cardiac asthma. Its cause is stagnation in the lungs of fluid.

Shortness of breath in neurotic disorders

Complaints about shortness of breath of varying degrees are presented by 3/4 of patients of neurologists and psychiatrists. The feeling of lack of air, the impossibility of breathing deeply, often accompanied by anxiety, fear of death from suffocation, a feeling of a “shutter”, an obstruction in the chest that prevents a full breath - the complaints of patients are very diverse. Typically, such patients are easily excitable, acutely responsive to stress people, often with hypochondriacal inclinations. Psychogenic breathing disorders often manifest against the background of anxiety and fear, depressed mood, after experienced nervous overexcitation. There are even attacks of false asthma - suddenly developing attacks of psychogenic shortness of breath. A clinical feature of the psychogenic features of breathing is its noise design - frequent sighs, groans, groans.
Treatment of shortness of breath in neurotic and neurosis-like disorders is carried out by neuropathologists and psychiatrists.

Shortness of breath with anemia

Anemia is a group of diseases characterized by changes in the composition of the blood, namely, a decrease in the content of hemoglobin and red blood cells in it. Since the transport of oxygen from the lungs directly to organs and tissues is carried out precisely with the help of hemoglobin, when its amount decreases, the body begins to experience oxygen starvation - hypoxia. Of course, he tries to compensate for this state, roughly speaking, to pump more oxygen into the blood, as a result of which the frequency and depth of breaths increase, i.e. shortness of breath occurs. There are anemias different types and they arise due to various reasons:

insufficient intake of iron with food (in vegetarians, for example);
chronic bleeding (with peptic ulcer, uterine leiomyoma);
after recent severe infectious or somatic diseases;
with congenital metabolic disorders;
as a symptom oncological diseases especially blood cancer.

In addition to shortness of breath with anemia, the patient complains of:

severe weakness, loss of strength;
decreased sleep quality, decreased appetite;
dizziness, headaches, decreased performance, impaired concentration, memory.

Persons suffering from anemia are characterized by pallor of the skin, in some types of the disease - its yellow tint, or jaundice.
It is not difficult to diagnose anemia - it is enough to pass a general blood test. If there are changes in it, indicating anemia, a number of examinations, both laboratory and instrumental, will be prescribed to clarify the diagnosis and identify the causes of the disease. Treatment is prescribed by a hematologist.

Shortness of breath in diseases of the endocrine system

Persons suffering from diseases such as thyrotoxicosis, obesity and diabetes mellitus also often complain of shortness of breath.
With thyrotoxicosis, a condition characterized by excessive production of thyroid hormones, all metabolic processes in the body increase sharply - at the same time, it experiences an increased need for oxygen. In addition, an excess of hormones causes an increase in the number of heartbeats, as a result of which the heart loses the ability to fully pump blood to tissues and organs - they lack oxygen, which the body tries to compensate for - shortness of breath occurs.
An excess amount of adipose tissue in the body during obesity makes it difficult for the respiratory muscles, heart, lungs, as a result of which the tissues and organs do not receive enough blood and experience a lack of oxygen.
With diabetes, sooner or later the vascular system of the body is affected, as a result of which all organs are in a state of chronic oxygen starvation. In addition, over time, the kidneys are also affected - diabetic nephropathy develops, which in turn provokes anemia, as a result of which hypoxia is further enhanced.

Shortness of breath in pregnant women

During pregnancy, the respiratory and cardiovascular systems of a woman's body experience increased stress. This load is due to an increased volume of circulating blood, compression from the bottom of the diaphragm by an enlarged uterus (as a result of which the chest organs become cramped and respiratory movements and heart contractions are somewhat difficult), the need for oxygen is not only for the mother, but also for the growing embryo. All these physiological changes lead to the fact that during pregnancy, many women experience shortness of breath. In this case, the respiratory rate does not exceed 22-24 per minute, it becomes more frequent during physical exertion and stress. With the progression of pregnancy, shortness of breath also progresses. In addition, expectant mothers often suffer from anemia, as a result of which shortness of breath increases even more.
If the respiratory rate exceeds the above figures, shortness of breath does not go away or does not significantly decrease at rest, the pregnant woman should definitely consult with an obstetrician-gynecologist or therapist.

Shortness of breath in children

The respiratory rate in children of different ages is different. Dyspnea should be suspected if:

in a child of 0–6 months, the number of respiratory movements (RR) is more than 60 per minute;
in a child of 6–12 months, the respiratory rate is over 50 per minute;
in a child older than 1 year, the respiratory rate is over 40 per minute;
in a child older than 5 years, the respiratory rate is over 25 per minute;
a child of 10–14 years old has a respiratory rate of over 20 per minute.

It is more correct to count the respiratory movements during the time when the child is sleeping. A warm hand should be freely placed on the child's chest and count the number of chest movements in 1 minute.
During emotional arousal, during physical exertion, crying, feeding, the respiratory rate is always higher, but if the respiratory rate significantly exceeds the norm and slowly recovers at rest, the pediatrician should be informed about this.
Most often, shortness of breath in children occurs with the following pathological conditions:

respiratory distress syndrome of the newborn (often recorded in premature babies whose mothers suffer from diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disorders, diseases of the genital area; intrauterine hypoxia, asphyxia contribute to it; clinically manifested by shortness of breath with a respiratory rate of over 60 per minute, a blue tint of the skin pallor, chest rigidity is also noted; treatment should be started as early as possible - the most modern method is the introduction of pulmonary surfactant into the trachea of a newborn in the first minutes of his life);
acute stenosing laryngotracheitis, or false croup (a feature of the structure of the larynx in children is its small lumen, which, with inflammatory changes in the mucous membrane of this organ, can lead to disruption of the passage of air through it; usually, false croup develops at night - swelling increases in the vocal cords, leading to severe inspiratory dyspnea and suffocation; in this condition, it is necessary to provide the child with fresh air and immediately call an ambulance);
congenital heart defects (due to intrauterine development disorders, a child develops pathological communications between the main vessels or cavities of the heart, leading to a mixture of venous and arterial blood; as a result, the organs and tissues of the body receive blood that is not saturated with oxygen and experience hypoxia; depending on the severity defect shows dynamic observation and / or surgical treatment);
viral and bacterial bronchitis, pneumonia, bronchial asthma, allergies;
anemia.

In conclusion, it should be noted that only a specialist can determine the reliable cause of shortness of breath, therefore, if this complaint occurs, you should not self-medicate - the most correct decision would be to consult a doctor.

Which doctor to contact

If the diagnosis is still unknown to the patient, it is best to contact a general practitioner (pediatrician for children). After the examination, the doctor will be able to establish a presumptive diagnosis, if necessary, refer the patient to a specialized specialist. If shortness of breath is associated with lung pathology, it is necessary to consult a pulmonologist, in case of heart disease, a cardiologist. Anemia is treated by a hematologist, diseases of the endocrine glands - by an endocrinologist, pathology of the nervous system - by a neurologist, mental disorders accompanied by shortness of breath - by a psychiatrist.
Video version of the article

Why does shortness of breath occur during exercise?

What is it and causes

Diseases that often cause shortness of breath

Treatment and prevention

There are many factors that cause shortness of breath. Let's take a look at the causes and treatment of shortness of breath on exertion together.

Shortness of breath: what is it and causes

Shortness of breath is a condition accompanied by a violation of the dative process. Its nature may differ, and scientists distinguish between three types of shortness of breath:

Inspiratory - breathing is difficult.
Expiratory - it is difficult to exhale.
Mixed.

Shortness of breath is an external manifestation of oxygen deficiency in body tissues. When you begin to feel a lack of oxygen, there is a gradual change in the depth and frequency of breathing, which becomes more superficial. The higher the state of hypoxia, the more often a person begins to breathe. The body strives for balance, and under the influence of physical activity, more oxygen is consumed by the tissues.
If it is not enough, then the brain receives a signal and gives a command to increase the activity of the respiratory system. As a result, the lungs and heart muscle increase the rate of work in order to supply the body with the necessary amount of oxygen. On average, after physical exertion in a healthy person, shortness of breath goes away in five minutes or a maximum of seven.
After a short rest everything goes back to normal. This problem can be solved very easily - you just need to increase your activity. In old age, it is worth taking regular walks and gradually the body adapts to such loads. Otherwise, you should put up with this phenomenon. Note that shortness of breath can also occur as a result of severe stress.
At this moment, the body actively synthesizes adrenaline, which leads to a supersaturation of body tissues with oxygen. If you do not have problems with the heart muscle, then you should not be afraid of shortness of breath and after a short rest, the problem will resolve itself. However, in the presence of diseases of the cardiovascular system, the situation can worsen.

Diseases that often cause shortness of breath

Considering the causes and treatment of shortness of breath during physical exertion, it is necessary to talk about those ailments in which this condition manifests itself quite often. The most serious among them are pathologies of the heart muscle and vascular system, lung ailments, anemia, allergies, problems with the endocrine system and obesity.
In addition, the appearance of shortness of breath is possible in the following situations:

Psycho-emotional stress.
Panic attacks.
Problems with the passage of air through the respiratory tract.
Climate change.
Abuse of alcohol and tobacco.

Often people ignore common breathing problems, which can lead to serious consequences. It is important to understand that the causes and treatment of shortness of breath during exercise can be pathological if a person has other ailments.

Pathologies of the heart muscle and vascular system

At first, shortness of breath appears only after physical exertion, but as heart failure develops, it becomes a serious problem even at rest. Most often, patients experience difficulty in inhaling, but there is no discomfort during exhalation. If heart failure is at an advanced stage of development, then the patient can sleep in a sitting or reclining position to facilitate breathing. Among the secondary symptoms of this disease, the appearance of edema and pain in the chest area should be noted.

Acute form of left ventricular failure

This condition is most often caused by excessive stress on the heart muscle. Also, ailments such as atherosclerosis, heart disease and hypertension can aggravate the situation.

cardiac asthma

Against the background of increased physical exertion, and at the last stage of the disease and at rest, the patient develops severe shortness of breath, asthma attacks. To improve his condition, a person tries to find a body position that can relieve symptoms. In such a situation, you should call an ambulance team and provide fresh air to the victim.

Pulmonary edema

This disease is a complication of cardiac asthma. In a patient, breathing becomes bubbling and the state changes. You must remember that this disease is extremely dangerous and you need to seek medical help as soon as possible. Otherwise, death is possible.

Hypertension

Shortness of breath most often appears at the maximum values of blood pressure, and the attack can last for 10-30 minutes. When the pressure begins to subside, shortness of breath goes away.

myocardial infarction

With a myocardial infarction, an asthma attack begins, which cannot be stopped. As a result, pulmonary edema may form. As soon as there is a suspicion of a heart attack, it is necessary to ensure the patient is calm and immediately call for medical help.

lung ailments

Quite often, the cause of shortness of breath is bronchial asthma. During an attack of this disease, bronchospasm occurs, and a person cannot breathe normally. If the attack cannot be stopped in a short time, then the asmatoid status of a condition that threatens a person's life may appear.
The disease develops against the background of a decrease in the ability of the blood to carry a sufficient amount of oxygen. Under the influence of physical activity, the body begins to experience severe oxygen starvation, which the body tries to compensate for by increasing breathing.
Allergic agents can cause spasms, and even swelling of the larynx, which creates an obstacle in the way of air into the lungs. Depending on the severity of the allergic attack, shortness of breath can be mild or severe.

Disorders in the work of the endocrine system

As you should be aware, hormonal substances control all processes in our body. If the endocrine system begins to malfunction, then various health problems appear, including shortness of breath. Note that breathing problems are the first symptom of a disruption in the hormonal system.
In acute infectious diseases, accompanied by a sharp increase in body temperature, and the patient's breathing and heart rate increase. If the infection affects the lungs or heart muscle, then shortness of breath can often appear even at rest and becomes severe.
When body weight exceeds the norm. The heart has to work harder. In addition, the process of delivering oxygen to tissues is hampered, since fat can envelop the heart muscle. In severe situations, fat cells can even penetrate into the alveolar tissue. As a result, the breathing process is disturbed and shortness of breath appears.
Having considered the causes of shortness of breath during physical exertion, it is necessary to recall that if breathing returns to normal during a short rest, then there is no cause for concern.

Treatment and prevention of dyspnea on exertion

First of all, you need to learn how to breathe correctly, no matter how strange it may sound. With the help of training, you can increase the volume of the lungs, which also helps to minimize the occurrence of shortness of breath. All your sports activities should be carried out in a well-ventilated area, use clothes that do not restrict movement and you do not experience health problems.
Now we will introduce you to the complex simple exercises which can help prevent shortness of breath. Start doing each of them in four repetitions, gradually bringing their number to 12. If during the performance of any exercise there is a feeling of discomfort, switch to an easier option.

Exercise #1

Take a seated position in a chair with your feet together and your back straight. Hands are located on the knee joints. And the feet are next to each other. Move your hands to your lower ribs and begin to inhale slowly. In this case, the head and shoulder joints should lean to the side. Returning to the starting position, repeat the movement in the opposite direction.

Exercise #2

Take a position lying on your back, bending your knees and resting your feet on the ground. Exhaling, raise the pelvis and hold the breath at the maximum end point of the trajectory. Remaining in this position for a few seconds. While exhaling slowly, return to the starting position.
While inhaling, pull the knee joint of the left leg to the chest, and as you exhale, return to the starting position. Then repeat the movement on the second leg, and then on both at once. The head and shoulder joints should rise while inhaling, and the chin should touch the chest. The complex is hung up by walking in a circle, and breathing at this moment should be calm.
If you find an asthma attack, then you need to take the following steps:

Reassure and then seat the victim.

Loosen your clothes so they don't interfere with your breathing.

Provide fresh air.

If the victim has heart problems, give him nitroglycerin or another similar medication.

If it is an asthma attack, then use the appropriate medication.

If the attack cannot be stopped, call an ambulance. Until the medical team shows up. The patient must be supervised. If shortness of breath bothers you often, then stop smoking, try to avoid stressful situations, and also start playing sports.

Shortness of breath in children

At different ages, the frequency of breathing in children is different. You can suspect the appearance of this condition in a child with the following number of respiratory movements per minute:

Age up to six months- more than 60 movements.

6 months to a year- over 50 movements.

From 1 to 5 years- more than 40 movements.

5 to 10 years- more than 25 movements.

After 10 years- over 20 movements.

It is best to count the number of respiratory movements of the child at the moment when he sleeps. Just put a warm hand on your baby's chest and count the number of breaths he takes in one minute. It is important to remember that in a stressful situation or under the influence of physical exertion, the respiratory rate increases. If breathing is frequent and slowly recovers during rest, then you should seek help from a doctor.
For more on shortness of breath and arrhythmias during exercise, see the video below:

Shortness of breath and lack of air: causes of lack of oxygen

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 is due to 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 a lack of physical fitness or 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 requisitions bad habit. Doctors also recommend taking x-rays of the lungs once a year, regardless of whether there are health problems or not.
Frequent drinking of alcohol can also cause shortness of breath, since 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, stuffiness in a living room is a constant companion of a 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 sleep sweetly and work productively, you need a constant flow of air from the street. We have already said 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 supply ventilation with air purification and heating systems. It is worth mentioning the smart microclimate system, with which you can remotely control climate devices and measure CO2 levels, 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 carbon dioxide 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, bronchial asthma. 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, a violation 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 the shortage of air especially acutely during physical activity, because the blood cannot deliver the increased level of oxygen that the body needs. 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.

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Complaints of shortness of breath are presented by many patients at the appointment with the therapist. Difficulty breathing does not mean that a person has problems with the lungs. One or another disease can be suspected by the nature of shortness of breath and symptoms of concomitant conditions.

However, only a doctor can determine the true cause, based on research data.

Shortness of breath - what is it?

Shortness of breath is a deviation from the normal parameters of the depth and frequency of breathing. Normally, a person makes 14-16 respiratory movements per minute.

During the period of bearing a child, the respiratory rate in women increases to 22-24 per minute, but this increase is considered normal and is due to physiological changes in the pregnant woman's body.

In children from the neonatal period to 10-14 years, the frequency of respiratory movements is gradually reduced from 60 to 20 per minute.

Exceeding the norm of respiratory rate in minutes. indicates the occurrence of shortness of breath. Subjectively (feelings of the patient), shortness of breath is manifested by a feeling of lack of air, increased or decreased breathing.

Shortness of breath may be temporary, occur during exertion, or occur spontaneously at rest. In serious illnesses, breathing difficulties are often fixed permanently.

Shortness of breath, medically called dyspnea, is a reflex reaction to a lack of oxygen in the tissues. Moreover, oxygen deficiency can be triggered by external factors: a sharp increase in physical activity when running, climbing stairs, etc.

Such physiological shortness of breath goes away on its own after some time. Its occurrence is due to the physical fitness of a person. People who lead a passive lifestyle feel chest tightness even with minimal physical exertion.

And, conversely, athletes and people leading an active lifestyle require a fairly serious physical activity for the appearance of shortness of breath.

A more serious option is shortness of breath due to the pathology of the internal organs. In this case, it is impossible to eliminate breathing problems without medical help.

Complaints of the patient can only indirectly indicate the affected organ. Only a full examination of the body will reveal the cause of shortness of breath and prescribe the appropriate treatment.

Distinguish shortness of breath:

Tachypnea - increased frequency of respiratory movements more than 20 per minute, and breathing becomes superficial. Tachypnea is characteristic of feverish conditions, obesity, anemia, hysterical seizures.
Bradypnea - a decrease in respiratory rate to 12 per minute. and less. Breathing can be both deep and shallow. Bradiapnea is fixed in cerebral pathology, the state of acidosis and diabetic coma.

By the nature of breathing problems, doctors consider:

Expiratory dyspnea - with difficult exhalation, most often due to damage to the small bronchi and the lung tissue itself. Shortness of breath after coughing, exhausting the patient, is fixed in chronic lung diseases (emphysema).
Inspiratory dyspnea - with difficulty breathing, occurs when the large bronchi are damaged or the lung tissue is compressed. More typical for bronchial asthma, pleurisy, allergic edema and cancer of the larynx.
Mixed shortness of breath - both inhalation and exhalation are difficult. This type of respiratory disorder often indicates cardiac asthma or advanced lung pathology.

Degrees of shortness of breath

Depending on the physical activity necessary for the appearance of breathing problems, shortness of breath is distinguished:

0 degree - for the appearance of tightness in the chest, quite serious physical stress is required (long distance running).
1 degree (mild) - shortness of breath occurs at times, when climbing stairs, walking fast.
Grade 2 (medium) - shortness of breath provokes a slower step in a sick person in comparison with the pace of his movement, being in a healthy state. A person sometimes stops while walking to take a breath.
Grade 3 (severe) - the patient needs to stop every 100 m (approximate distance) or when climbing 1-2 flights of stairs. The patient's performance is drastically reduced.
4 degrees (extremely severe) - even minimal physical exertion or an emotional outburst can provoke shortness of breath in heart failure. Often, difficulty breathing occurs at rest, even during sleep at night. The patient is practically unable to do any work and spends most of the time at home.

Along with the above characteristics, the accompanying symptoms of shortness of breath play an important role.

Chest pain, cough, shortness of breath - is it a disease?

Constantly or frequently occurring (even at rest) shortness of breath is a serious symptom indicating the progression of an already existing disease or the occurrence of a severe, rapidly developing pathology. Shortness of breath at rest is characteristic of the following diseases:

Severe angina and other heart conditions - chest pain, cough, shortness of breath at rest. Timely provision of qualified assistance to the patient can save his life and prevent the development of necrosis of the heart muscle.

Thromboembolism of the arteries of the lung- often occurs against the background of varicose veins or thrombophlebitis, occurring with an increase in blood clotting. Blockage of the pulmonary vessels is accompanied by severe spasm of the bronchi. Often a similar condition occurs in the postoperative period, in paralyzed bedridden patients, and even during air travel.

Immediate medical attention is required to save the patient's life! Usually, only a few minutes after the onset of severe symptoms are given to help with blockage of a large pulmonary vessel, otherwise death is inevitable.

The most common causes of shortness of breath when walking are:

Pathology of the coronary circulation - stenosis of large heart vessels, atherosclerosis;
Heart defects - valvular defects, aneurysm of the heart wall;
Severe lung damage - often persistent shortness of breath accompanies lung diseases;
Anemia - a significant decrease in hemoglobin levels is characterized by shortness of breath during exercise and sudden attacks of weakness, dizziness and a decrease in blood pressure up to loss of consciousness.

Cardiac shortness of breath (cardiac asthma), symptoms

Shortness of breath provoked by heart disease, without treatment, gradually or rapidly progresses. The rate of increase in shortness of breath indicates the severity of cardiac pathology. As a result, coronary circulation insufficiency and tissue hypoxia occur.

Severe shortness of breath when walking or at rest is accompanied by cyanosis of the nasolabial triangle, pallor of the skin, heart pain.

Breathing problems that occur spontaneously during nocturnal sleep suggest heart failure. A characteristic symptom of cardiac asthma - ortapnea - is manifested by increased shortness of breath in the supine position. A person is forced to take an upright position to facilitate breathing.

In chronic heart failure, shortness of breath is accompanied by deep breaths due to reflex replenishment of severe oxygen deficiency. The most unfavorable option - shortness of breath at rest - requires complex treatment of heart failure.

Shortness of breath and cough with sputum are a "companion" of heavy smokers and an indicator of chronic pulmonary obstruction. Long-term smoking leads to atrophic changes in the bronchi, blockage of the smallest bronchioles with sputum.

Shortness of breath may be minimal at rest, but increases sharply when walking.

With bronchitis and pneumonia, shortness of breath and a wet cough are recorded (with the exception of the initial period of pneumonia - a dry cough). Dry cough and shortness of breath are typical for lesions of the pleura, fibrosis, the initial stage of pulmonary oncology. The larger the area affected by the respiratory system, the more pronounced shortness of breath.

Noisy breathing, moist rales audible at a distance (“gurgling” in the lungs), and persistent shortness of breath may indicate severe lung damage: cancer or edema caused by acute coronary insufficiency.

Treatment - what to do with shortness of breath?

If the disease that caused shortness of breath is established, it is necessary to treat it in accordance with all the recommendations of the attending physician. You can also help make breathing easier:

Complete cessation of cigarettes, exclusion of passive smoking.
Ventilation of the premises and its regular cleaning (dust removal).
Exclusion from the diet of allergenic foods that contribute to the occurrence of bronchial asthma and asthmatic bronchitis.
Good nutrition - prevention of anemia.
Breathing exercises - a deep breath through the nose and exhalation through the mouth, accompanied by the retraction of the abdomen.
If the cause of difficulty breathing is not established, it is necessary to undergo a comprehensive examination. With rapidly developing shortness of breath, an urgent emergency call is required, and when breathing stops, the use of artificial respiration before the doctors arrive.
Shortness of breath in bronchial asthma is eliminated by drugs that eliminate bronchospasm - Salbutamol, Fenoterol, Saltos, Eufillin.
The fastest result is achieved with the use of aerosols or drug injections. In / m or / in the injection is carried out by a doctor!

Treatment of shortness of breath begins with identifying the cause of its occurrence. Breathing problems are eliminated only with effective treatment of the underlying disease.

Which doctor should I contact with shortness of breath?

Since shortness of breath can be caused by various diseases, initially a person should consult a therapist. Subsequently, the patient can be referred for a consultation with highly specialized specialists: a cardiologist, pulmonologist, endocrinologist, neuropathologist.

Symptoms of shortness of breath on minimal exertion. Heart failure shortness of breath when walking treatment. What is shortness of breath

Shortness of breath when walking

Causes of severe shortness of breath when walking

Pulmonary dyspnea

Cardiac dyspnea

Hematogenous dyspnea

Central dyspnea

Treatment of shortness of breath

Classification of dyspnea

Shortness of breath in nervous disorders

Shortness of breath in children

Shortness of breath during stress

Causes of shortness of breath during exercise

The appearance of shortness of breath in hypertension

Causes of cardiac dyspnea

Shortness of breath with atherosclerosis

Causes of pulmonary dyspnea

Causes of shortness of breath with anemia

Symptoms

What is shortness of breath when walking

Possible causes and types of dyspnea

Pulmonary and hematogenous dyspnea

Cardiac and central dyspnea

Diagnosis

Effective treatment

Oxygen Therapy

Traditional medicine

Prevention of shortness of breath

Shortness of breath when walking

Causes of severe shortness of breath when walking

Pulmonary dyspnea

Cardiac dyspnea

Hematogenous dyspnea

Central dyspnea

Treatment of shortness of breath

Causes of shortness of breath

Pulmonary dyspnea

Cardiac dyspnea

Hematogenous dyspnea

Central dyspnea

General treatment for shortness of breath

Medications

Folk remedies for shortness of breath

Prevention of shortness of breath

Causes

Symptoms

Treatment and prevention

Exercise for the elderly

Folk remedies

Contraindications

Recipes

Remedies for shortness of breath caused by heart failure

What is shortness of breath and how does it manifest?

Symptoms

When to see a doctor

Diagnostics

Shortness of breath when walking: causes and types of dyspnea

Pulmonary dyspnea

Hematogenous dyspnea

Cardiac dyspnea

Central dyspnea

Shortness of breath: treatment

Oxygen therapy

Folk remedies

Prevention

Shortness of breath symptoms and types

Physiological causes of shortness of breath

The main causes of shortness of breath

Pathology of the heart and blood vessels

Respiratory pathology

Anemia of a different nature

What else causes shortness of breath

First aid for shortness of breath

Treatment of shortness of breath with folk remedies and preventive measures

When is shortness of breath considered normal?

The appearance of shortness of breath

Factors contributing to shortness of breath

Shortness of breath on exertion: causes and treatment

Mechanism of dyspnea

When should you be concerned?