What is Shortness of Breath?
As the name indicates shortness of breath means contracted breathing or difficulty to take normal and long breaths. This situation makes the heart to work hard as the oxygen supply to the heart is less. It creates difficulty in easy breathing process. The shortness of breath is also known as dyspnea.
Any condition which creates difficulty to breath normally can be a cause of shortness of breath. The body does not get enough air or oxygen in this condition and suffers from suffocation and tightening of the chest. Shortness of breath can be experienced by a healthy person when he or she is in extremely low or temperature. This is experienced by different people in different conditions.
There can be mild, chronic and acute problems or conditions which lead to shortness of breath.
The primary symptoms of shortness of breath are:
- Difficulty to breath
- Mild chest pain
- Intestinal cramps
- Increased stress levels
- Increased rate of heartbeats
Shortness of Breath Causes
Most of the problems related to shortness of breath are occurring due to the heart conditions and lung conditions. Heart and lungs are responsible for transporting oxygen to the tissues in the body. It takes out the excess carbon dioxide from the tissues and blood to enable an easy breathing process. The easy breathing process is interrupted if the person has any health problems, obesity etc.
Shortness of breath can be experienced in a number situations. The primary causes of shortness of breath are:
- Allergy and allergic reactions due to milk, peanuts, egg and wheat allergy
- Reactions due to insect bites
- Chronic sinusitis
- Damage or enlargement of airways
- Asthma
- Bronchitis
- Lung cancer
- Obesity
- Hypertension
- Pulmonary fibrosis
- Pneumonia
- Tuberculosis
- Fluid accumulation outside the airways
- Unusual strenuous exercise
- Lack of physical activities or exercises
- Heart failure
- Anemia
- Coronary artery disease
- Generalized anxiety disorder
- Emphysema
- interstitial lung disease
- Heart attack
- Pleurisy
