|
HowToPreventHeartDisease.com |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
What Is Cardiac Asthma? Bronchial asthma, or commonly known as asthma, is a chronic condition caused by inflammation and narrowing of airways, leading to breathing difficulties. People who are at a higher risk of developing asthma are those who are genetically susceptible to asthma and being exposed early in life to indoor allergens like dust mites, cockroaches, and having a family history of asthma or allergy. Exposure to the effects of tobacco smoke before birth or during early childhood also raises the risk of developing bronchial asthma. Various factors that can trigger asthma attacks include respiratory tract infections; cold weather; exercise; allergens (substances that trigger an allergic reaction) such as pollen and house dust mites; cigarette smoke and other air pollutants; and stress. Some people can develop asthma by taking some medications such as aspirin. Other people may develop asthma because of an allergy that they develop to certain chemicals in the workplace. However, it may not be right to assume that a person who have symptoms like wheezing, chest tightness, cough, shortness of breath is having asthma. Instead, they may have cardiac asthma.
According to a paper published 1951 in AHA
(American Heart Association) Journal ‘Circulation’, cardiac asthma may be
defined as the clinical syndrome induced by acute passive congestion and edema
(swelling, abnormal accumulation of fluid) of the lungs. It occurs when pumping
efficiency of the left side of the heart is reduced or because of a leaky valve
or a heart defect that’s present at birth (congenital). Patients may report
other symptoms that can be similar to patients with poorly controlled asthma
including fatigue, weakness, and being more tired. In addition, cardiac asthma
may lead to fluid retention in the ankles and lower extremity besides having
asthma-like symptoms mentioned above. People with cardiac asthma may notice an
increase in weight because of fluid retention.
Main symptoms and signs of cardiac asthma are shortness of breath with or without wheezing; cough; rapid and shallow breathing; an increase in blood pressure and heart rate; and a feeling of apprehension. People with heart failure and cardiac asthma often find they wake up breathless a few hours after going to bed and have to sit upright to catch their breath. This is because lying down for prolonged periods for people with heart failure will cause fluid to accumulate in the lungs leading to shortness of breath. In fact, this is a sign of congestive heart failure or simply heart failure. As indicated in a study published May 14, 2007 in journal ‘BMC Cardiovascular Disorders’, one third of heart failure in elderly patients have cardiac asthma. When the symptoms are severe enough, it can lead to hypoxemia (too little oxygen in the blood) and this can become an emergency. Patients with cardiac asthma can ultimately require ventilatory support like intubation or admission into an intensive care unit (ICU). It can be life-threatening if cardiac asthma patient who is experiencing an acute decrease in blood flow to the heart in an acute myocardial infarction (heart attack). If doctors suspect that the symptoms that their patients have are not due to asthma, they may order some tests to look for heart failure. The tests include blood test, echocardiogram (ultrasound test of the heart that looks to see how well the heart is pumping), ECG (a heart tracing to quickly identify acute problems with the heart and identify if the patients have had prior damage to the heart) or even cardiac MRI (look for calcium deposits and blockages in the blood vessels that supply the heart).
Treatments for cardiac asthma depend on the cause:
whether it is due to heart failure or leaky valve. It may include heart
medicines to control blood pressure and remove excess fluid, proper diet, and
modified daily activities. But if the cause is a leaky valve or congenital heart
defect, surgery may ultimately be needed. Date: March 21, 2019
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
Copyright
2007-2012 © HowToPreventHeartDisease.com . All Rights Reserved.d........ |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
