breathlessness

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breathlessness

A lack of breathing, detected by a rescuer by looking for chest movements, listening for air escaping during exhalation and feeling for air flow.

breathlessness

Emergency medicine A lack of breathing, detected by a rescuer by looking for chest movements, listening for air escaping during exhalation, and feeling for air flow. See Rescue breathing, Shortness of breath.

breathlessness

An automatic increase in the rate of respiration in response to a reduction in the levels of oxygen, and an increase in the levels of carbon dioxide, in the blood. Undue breathlessness, inappropriate to the degree of exertion, is an important sign of possible HEART FAILURE or of any other condition that leads to inadequate oxygenation of the blood. Breathlessness should be distinguished from hyperventilation which is usually either a response to acute anxiety or a voluntary activity. The medical term for breathlessness is dyspnoea.

breathlessness

see dyspnea, hyperpnea, tachypnea.

Patient discussion about breathlessness

Q. can one prevent asthma attack from happening from the moment he/she feels breathless???

A. If the patient feels breathless, than it's no longer preventing the attack but rather treating it. Prompt treatment of asthma attacks is very important and achieved mainly with bronchodilators (medications taken through inhalation), mainly short-acting beta agonists. More advanced treatments is usually given by medical professional as deemed needed.

Preventing asthma attacks is achieved through better control of the disease (with drugs such as inhaled steroids) and through avoidance of triggers such as infections of the lung (vaccinations etc.), avoidance of chemical irritants, pet allergens, cold, dry air etc.

You may read more here(www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/asthma.html )
and if you have any questions, you may want to consult your doctor.

Q. Is there a known connection between asthma and cat allergy? I've been with asthma for many years now but usually get several attacks every year and they are caused from being around pine trees or when I'm with a cold- it also affects my breathing. Lately I get serious attacks after being in a house with a cat. I've never knew a cat allergy- I used to pat many and never got breathing difficulties as a result of a touch with them and lately it happends every time. Are cat a known asthma cause? can I do anything to prevent that?Can I maybe overcome it by being next to cats more often and getting myself used to it?

A. you may be becoming more sensitive to cats an other things--there are drugs on the market that you take everyday to control asthma/allergies--that can prevent you from even having an attack--i am a retired respriratory therpist/emt so i dont no about natural/chinese medicines---i will tell you this asthma can kill --donot try to treat yourself--i dont no what kind of dr you have but--go to a pulmonary DR. with asthma you have to take your meds everyday because skipping can cause you to be come more sensitive to allergens an can cause you to go into a bad attack---mrfoot56--feel better.

More discussions about breathlessness

References in periodicals archive ?

Dr Pargi said the hospital has had patients coming in with complaints of breathlessness since Sunday morning.

Dusty weather a trigger for allergic attacks

For the first time, we demonstrated that treatment with Ultibro Breezhaler can reduce lung hyperinflation and improve cardiac function, breathlessness and health status.

Switzerland : Treatment with Novartis' Ultibro Breezhaler improved cardiac function in COPD patients with lung hyperinflation

Pulmonary rehabilitation can help in teaching patients with IPF how to breathe more efficiently and to perform their activities of daily living with less breathlessness.

Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis: Causes and symptoms

Breathlessness can be caused by anemia, which means there is not enough hemoglobin in your blood to carry oxygen from your lungs to the rest of your body (we'll be covering this topic in more depth in an upcoming issue).

Is that symptom a sign of something serious? You shouldn't panic about every health niggle--but some may need medical attention

The other one is lower respiratory tract infection that leads to bronchitis, weakness and breathlessness due to his exposure to polluted air.

Morning walks turn into toxic terror

We're also urging people not to ignore unusual breathlessness - its main symptom.

My husband died from a disease with no cure and no known cause. We have to find out more; widow tells of husband's last years

Asthma is a major non-communicable disease characterized by recurrent attacks of breathlessness and wheezing, which vary in severity and frequency from person to person.

World Asthma Day observed

It is a clinical challenge to differentiate benign breathlessness of pregnancy from more serious causes of the shortness of breath in pregnancy such as asthma, pulmonary embolism, and cardiomyopathy.

A study of breathlessness in pregnant females in a rural setup

Using univariate analysis, symptoms of breathlessness and lower respiratory tract infection at the time of admission were significantly associated with measles disease.

Case-control Study for Measles Outbreak in a Tertiary Care Hospital

SLURRED speech or confusion EXTREME shivering or muscle pain PASSING no urine all day SEVERE breathlessness A FEELING of doom or that you might die SKIN | that's mottled, bluish or very pale die THESE symptoms won't always indicate sepsis, but the UK Sepsis Trust advises that if you have, or recently had, a fever or an illness that's felt like a nasty cold/flu or a tummy bug and you develop any of these things, seek medical help urgently - phone 999 and say you're worried you have sepsis.

SIX SYMPTOMS TO KEEP ON YOUR RADAR AR

SLURRED speech or confusion | | | EXTREME shivering or muscle pain | PASSING no urine all day | SEVERE breathlessness | A| | A FEELING of doom or that you might die | SKIN that's mottled, bluish or very pale THESE symptoms won't always indicate sepsis, but the UK Sepsis Trust advises that if you have, or recently had, a fever or an illness that's felt like a nasty cold/flu or a tummy bug and you develop any of these things, seek medical help urgently - phone 999 and say you're worried you have sepsis.

SIX SYMPTOMS TO KEEP ON YOUR RADAR

Robert 'Bob' Chetwynd, from Nuneaton, began suffering with breathlessness in May last year.