How to get rid of shortness of breath at home

Almost all people at least once in their lives faced with shortness of breath. Difficult breathing can unexpectedly overtake both a sick and quite healthy person. Especially often shortness of breath occurs during exercise. It is this that is the reason why many people limit their mobility, cannot walk for a long distance, or climb the stairs to the desired floor. It is worth learning more about the causes and methods of dealing with dyspnea.

What is dyspnea

Dyspnea is a breathing disorder that is characterized by difficulty in breathing in or breathing out. At the same time, breathing itself becomes superficial and frequent. Most people with dyspnea are older people.This is due to the development of cardiac pathology.

However, sometimes shortness of breath worries young people, sometimes even children. Dyspnea should not be confused with suffocation. Asphyxiation is a deeper breathing disorder that leads to a lack of air. During asphyxiation, a person cannot breathe, collecting new portions of air into the lungs. When dyspnea, air enters the lungs, but in a smaller volume than necessary.

In addition, dyspnea is often not associated with difficulty in entering air into the lungs, but with difficulty in getting it into the tissue. These cases will be discussed below.

Types of Dyspnea

In total there are three types of dyspnea:

Inspiratory - with difficulty inhaling. Most often occurs with laryngitis and tracheitis, when the lumen of the largest airways decreases.

Expiratory - with difficulty exhaling. It indicates a decrease in the lumen of the small and medium airways, for example, obstructive bronchitis.

Mixed - with difficulty inhaling and exhaling. It is found in the pathology of the cardiovascular system and anemia.
Accurately determining the type of dyspnea,You can make a diagnosis and understand what research needs to be done to confirm it.

In addition, there are several degrees of dyspnea:

0 Degree. Respiratory failure occurs when running for long distances, the rapid rise of 5 or more floors, excessive physical exertion.

1 degree. Dyspnea occurs with considerable physical exertion; a person can walk more than 1 km and climb more than one floor (two flights of stairs).

2 degree. Difficulty in breathing occurs with moderate physical exertion, passing more than 500m and climbing one floor.

3 degree. Dyspnea occurs when the daily load, passing 200m and raising one flight of stairs (less floor).

4 degree. Dyspnea is present almost constantly, even at rest or when changing the position of the body.

The causes of this pathology

There are several categories of conditions that can lead to shortness of breath:

• Heart diseases: ischemia (IHD), heart failure;
• Lung diseases: obstructive, bronchial asthma;
• Hematological pathology: anemia;
• Metabolic disorders: obesity.

The treatment of dyspnea depends on the specific disease that caused it, therefore it is necessary to disassemble each type of pathology and principles of its treatment separately.

Ischemic Heart Disease (CHD)

So called those pathological conditions in which the heart muscle receives less oxygen than it needs. This occurs in two cases: with a decrease in oxygen delivery, that is, narrowing of the coronary arteries; and with an increase in oxygen demand, for example, with an increase in myocardial mass. The first pathology often occurs in older people, the second - in athletes, which do not adhere to a special regime.

What's happening? In CHD, the myocardium suffers from hypoxia, which increases the frequency of its contractions. Thus, the heart is trying to quickly renew blood in the coronary arteries. However, the more intensely the heart works, the more oxygen it needs. Then another mechanism turns on: the frequency of respiratory movements increases, so more oxygen enters the bloodstream and it is updated faster.

The more hypoxia, the higher the degree of shortness of breath.

Treatment. In order to get rid of shortness of breath in this case, it is necessary to treat IHD.With an attack of dyspnea, you must put a nitroglycerin tablet under your tongue. To prevent seizures, you can use the retard form of this drug. In addition, you should take drugs group of statins.

Heart failure

This disease occurs as the outcome of other pathological conditions of the heart. For example, due to myocardial infarction, cardiomyopathy, myocarditis. The mechanism for formulating dyspnea is associated with blood stagnation in the pulmonary circulation and changes in the blood supply in the lungs.

How does this happen? In case of heart failure, the myocardium becomes weaker; now it cannot pump the necessary volume of blood from one circulation to another at once. A small circle is in the lungs, here the blood is enriched with oxygen. In case of heart failure, this circle is overflowed, part of the liquid is sweating out in the tissue of the lungs and interferes with the implementation of normal inspiration. Therefore, a person breathes often and superficially. Dyspnea worse with exertion and lying down.

Treatment. To get rid of shortness of breath, you need to "unload" a small circle and reduce swelling.For this purpose, diuretic drugs of the saluretic group, for example, furosemide, are perfect. It is necessary to approach the treatment of the failure itself as a complex.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

This is a whole group of heterogeneous diseases. Common to all of them - the presence of persistent irreversible obstruction of the bronchi. Such diseases include, for example, chronic bronchitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease itself.

At the same time, the lumen of the bronchial tree narrows and it is difficult for a person to exhale. Shortness of breath occurs first during physical exertion, and then at rest. COPD is common in smokers, miners, road workers.

What's happening? Under the action of various aggressive substances, the bronchial tissue, which normally consists of elastic fibers, is replaced by collagen fibers. Collagen can not stretch and quickly return to its original position, as elastin. The lumen of the bronchi, roughly speaking, is compressed by connective tissue fibers.

Inhalation is an active process, so it is easier to make it under these conditions.Exhalation is a passive process, normally the air itself leaves the lungs with a decrease in the volume of the chest. If there is an obstacle in the bronchi, it will be difficult to exhale. Forms expiratory dyspnea.

Treatment. For the treatment of shortness of breath in this case it is necessary to ensure the normal patency of the bronchi. To do this, use inhaled beta-adrenomimetics of prolonged action, for example, salmeterol.

Bronchial asthma

What's happening? When an allergen is ingested, an inflammatory reaction occurs, which leads to a narrowing of the bronchial tree. The difference from COPD is that in the absence of an allergen the bronchi return to normal. Bronchial asthma is a reversible disease. However, frequent attacks can lead to the formation of COPD.

Treatment. They treat asthma by inhalation of aerosols with glucocorticoids and fast beta-adrenergic mimetics. For example, use budesonide with salbutomol.Another treatment option is relocation. There are cases when, after moving from large industrial cities to small resort ones, people completely got rid of asthma.

Anemia

Anemia is a decrease in the number of red blood cells. At the same time, tissues and organs experience hypoxia, since it is the erythrocytes that are responsible for the transport of oxygen. The mechanism of dyspnea in this case is similar to the mechanism for IHD. Treatment depends on the causes of anemia. Apply from blood-substituting solutions to ordinary vitamins or iron supplements.

Physiological

Zero degree of anemia is physiological. During physical exertion, to which the body is not adapted, even in healthy people shortness of breath occurs. This is due to the fact that during intensive work, the tissues consume oxygen more quickly, and, therefore, they should get a new portion of it faster.

Thus, we can conclude that dyspnea can be the result of many pathological conditions. Her treatment depends on what caused her appearance. If you suspect pathological dyspnea, you should consult a doctor. In addition, there is physiological dyspnea.She does not require treatment, only longer, moderate workouts.

Video: how to recover from shortness of breath