Cardiomyopathy
One of the most common reasons of developing breathlessness with exertion or even at rest is Cardiomyopathy – a disease when patients develop abnormal heart muscle. There are three different types of Cardiomyopathy – hypertrophic, dilated and restrictive. This condition makes it difficult for heart to pump and circulate oxygen-rich blood to the rest of the body. The condition may also lead to failure of heart. Some other symptoms of Cardiomyopathy that associate breathlessness are swelling of legs, feet and ankles, fatigue, cough, dizziness and irregular heartbeats.
Causes that develop Cardiomyopathy cannot be specified. However, doctors have identified a number of contributing factors that causes cardiomyopathy. They include:
- Problems in heart valve
- Long-term high blood pressure
- Damaged heart tissues
- Metabolic disorders, such as diabetes, thyroid disease and obesity
- Nutritional deficiencies of essential minerals and vitamins, such as thiamin (vitamin B-1)
- Use of chemotherapy drugs
- Buildup of iron in heart muscle (hemochromatosis)
- Heart arrhythmia
Heart arrhythmia is a condition related with heart rhythm disorder. It develops due to the poor performance of electrical impulses in your heart that coordinate the heartbeats. A person affected with the condition experiences premature heartbeats. The person may feel that his heart is beating too slow or racing too fast. Shortness of breath is a major symptom of arrhythmia. However, it also develops other symptoms like a fluttering in chest, chest pain, dizziness and even fainting. Major causes that lead to arrhythmia include:
- Damage of heart tissues from a previous heart attack
- Changes in heart structure, such as cardiomyopathy
- Coronary artery disease (blocked arteries in heart)
- Diabetes
- High blood pressure
- Hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid gland)
- Drinking too much alcohol
- Use of nicotine or caffeine
- Heart Failure
This is a serious heart condition, also known as congestive heart failure (CHF). It happens when heart muscles fail to pump blood properly. Conditions like high blood pressure or narrowed arteries in heart make the organ too stiff or weak to pump blood efficiently. One of the major symptoms of heart failure is sudden severe shortness of breath. However, it also includes some other symptoms like weakness and fatigue, irregular or rapid heartbeat, persistent cough, increase in blood pressure and severe chest pain.
Heart failure often occurs when other medical conditions have weakened or damaged your cardiac system. Due to the poor performance of heart, enough blood is not circulated throughout the body. The pumping chambers of your heart (the ventricles) may become stiff. Insufficient supply of blood often leads to heart failure.
Heart failure can involve the right side, left side or both sides of your heart. However, heart failure typically begins with the left side – the left ventricle, the main pumping chamber of your heart.
Pericarditis
Pericarditis is irritation and swelling of pericardium – a thin sac-like membrane that surrounds heart. It often causes sharp chest pain when the layers which comprise the pericardium rub against each other. Pericarditis usually develops suddenly. However, in most cases it does not last long. If the symptoms persist, it is considered chronic. Some of the most common symptoms of pericarditis include piercing and sharp chest pain, breathlessness while reclining, palpitations in heart, weakness and fatigue and leg or abdominal swelling.
In normal circumstance, the two-layered pericardial sac surrounding the heart contains a small amount of lubricating fluid. A person develops symptoms of pericarditis, when the sac becomes swollen or inflamed. The inflamed sac leads to friction and causes chest pain. Pericarditis often develops shortly after a major heart attack. Other causes of pericarditis include:
Systemic inflammatory disorders: These include rheumatoid and lupus arthritis.
Trauma: This happens when your chest or heart sustains injury as a result of motor vehicle or other accident.
Other health disorders: Health disorders include tuberculosis, kidney failure, cancer and AIDS.
Certain medications may also cause pericarditis.
Angina
Angina is a condition marked by acute pain in your chest. This condition develops when the heart does not receive enough supply of oxygen-rich blood to function normally. Blood is supplied to our cardiac system by two large blood vessels called coronary arteries. Angina most often takes place when the coronary arteries become hardened and narrow due to a condition called atherosclerosis.
When you are at a restful condition, your heart muscles need relatively small blood supply. However when you are performing any stressful activity, your heart muscles need to work more intensely. Hence, there is an increase in the demand of blood supply. If your coronaries are narrowed, adequate amount of blood will not be able to reach the heart and this may trigger the symptoms of angina.
In some cases, angina develops when the supply of blood is blocked by plaque (fatty deposit) in the arteries.
Chest pain and discomfort are the major symptoms of angina. Other common signs and symptoms of angina include shortness of breath, fatigue, nausea and light-headedness.
If you are suffering from breathlessness, do not neglect, especially if it occurs all of a sudden. Get in touch with any good cardiac expert. To determine the cause of your breathing difficulties, the doctor may ask you to do some examinations. Proper treatment and medications will help you to improve your cardiac condition. Left untreated, the condition of your heart could worsen and prove fatal.
About Nicholas Hedge:
Nicholas Hedge is associated with cardiology treatments for years now. In this article, he has discussed about different heart problems that causes shortness of breath, after reading some articles written by experienced heart specialists who offers shortness of Breath Treatment in Huntington Beach.
http://www.articlesbase.com/diseases-and-conditions-articles/heart-problems-that-causes-shortness-of-breath-7041496.html
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