Advice on Pulmonary Heart Disease
By: Robert NamTotal Views: 187, Word Count: 725,
Heart is one of the vital organs of human beings. A minor problem in heart may prove to be fatal. Pulmonary heart disease is associated with the functioning of the lungs.
Pulmonary heart disease is also known as pulmonary hypertension. It is a very rare lung disorder in which arteries that carry blood from the heart to the lungs get narrowed. This develops a difficult situation for blood to flow through the blood vessels.
Pulmonary Heart Disease can occur even in the absence of other disease in the heart or lungs. If this problem is ignored, it may lead to heart failure. It is a chronic lung disease, which leads to pulmonary heart disease.
The pulmonary artery is a blood vessel that carries oxygen- poor- blood from the right ventricle to the lungs. In the lungs, the blood picks up the oxygen and directs it to the left side of the heart.
While resting, normal pulmonary artery pressure is 14 mmhg. Patient suffering from pulmonary heart disease has pressure greater than 25 mm hg at rest and 30mmhg during exercise.
This abnormal rate of high blood pressure develops because of the change in small blood vessels in the lungs, which results in the increase in resistance to the blood flow from the vessels.
This leads to extra strain on the right ventricle of the heart. As a result, it has to work hard to move the adequate amount of blood from the heart through the lungs back to the left side of the heart.
Causes of Pulmonary Heart Disease
There are two possible causes of pulmonary heart disease.
- Pulmonary artery gets blocked due to blood clot. The symptoms may include difficulty in breathing and chest pain. This can be treated with a ‘clot busting’ drug, which dissolves in the blood clot and release up to arteries.
- The consequences of respiratory disease is that it forces the heart to work extra hard. This situation is known as chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases.
Symptoms of Pulmonary Heart Disease
Following are the signs and symptoms of pulmonary heart diseases.
- Shortness of breath
- Syncope
- Dyscope
- Chest pain
- Fatigue
- Weight loss
- Tachycardia
- Tachypnoea
Diagnosis Test for Pulmonary Heart Disease
First step is to collect the complete medical history of the patient and then perform the physical examination. The Diagnosis test includes Echocardiogram, chest x-ray, and lung scan (to check out the pulmonary embolism).
Treatment of Pulmonary Heart Disease
Currently, there is no effective treatment for the pulmonary heart disease. Some patients can be treated with the aid of drugs that dilate the blood vessels (vasodilators). The effect of drugs must be evaluated during cardiac catheterization because it can cause severe heart problems.
A warfarain (blood thinner) may be beneficial for the infected person. Doctors also recommend the use of oxygen on a regular basis, since one of the consequences of pulmonary heart disease is low level of oxygen in the blood.
Heart, lung, or the single lung transplantation can be the other best option for the treatment of pulmonary heart disease.
Important Question to Ask Your Doctor about Pulmonary Heart Diseases
- What are the options for the treatment?
- What is the risk involved for vasodilators?
- Is there any other medical condition which is required to be considered?
- Do you recommend the use of vasodilators for the treatment of pulmonary disease?
- Is there any evidence for the blockage of the blood flow?
- Would oxygen help?
The above mentioned information will guide you about the pulmonary heart diseases. It is a rare disease that can be dangerous to your health.
About the Author
Dr. Robert Nam is a well known heart specialist and has done postgraduate training in cardiology at the national heart hospital, the London chest hospital and UCL hospital, London. He was also engaged in research at the national heart and lung institute. Nowadays he is working as a consultant cardiologist at UCL hospital, London.
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