Thursday, November 5, 2015

Laboured breathing or shortness of breath (dyspnea) due to pulmonary edema

Laboured breathing/shortness of breath (dyspnea) may have more than one causes as:
Asthma, 
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), 
adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), 
head injury, 
swallowed or inhaled foreign object, 
agoraphobia (anxiety disorder), 
diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), 
diphtheria (fatal bacterial infection), 
skull fractures, 
lung cancer, 
encephalitis, 
patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), 
croup (virus causing swelling around vocal cords); 
and that needs to be explored for.

The symptoms may include one or many as:
Shortness of breath, 
rapid breathing, 
vomiting, 
cough, 
loss of consciousness, 
stopped breathing, 
wheezing, anxiety, 
gasping for breath, 
high-pitched breath sounds, 
coma, 
tired.
Link for more detail/thankfully consulted for:http://www.healthline.com/symptom/labored-breathing

Laboured breathing/shortness of breath (dyspnea) is alarming as it causes:
i. Respiratory distress,
ii. Cardiac arrest due to hypoxia.

Laboured breathing/shortness of breath (dyspnea) could also be due to pulmonary edema,
which may be of,
i. cardiogenic or 
ii. non cardiogenic types.

Edema is a medical term for swelling.
It is a general response of the body to injury or inflammation.
Edema can be isolated to a small area or affect the entire body.
Edema results whenever small blood vessels become 'leaky' and release fluid into nearby tissues.

Edema may have many causes as:
Low albumin (hypoalbuminemia), 
allergic reactions, 
obstruction of flow, 
critical illness, 
heart disease.

Old age is also a cause of edema as when heart weakens and pumps blood less effectively, fluid can slowly build up creating leg edema.
If fluid buildup occurs rapidly, fluid in the lungs (pulmonary edema) can develop.
If there is heart failure of the right side of the heart, often times edema can develop in the abdomen as well.
Changing weather ('stress) is often a 'predisposing factor' for pulmonary edema in elderly people.

Link for more detail/thankfully consulted for:http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/heart-failure/edema-overview

Mode of action
As this results in distressing and emergency situations, consulting a qualified physician and admitting patient to an equipped hospital so that he/she can get oxygen, blood infusion and other sos medication for the control of urgent distressing health conditions.

Medications:
That also varies with cause of the edema and  the physical condition of the patient, which only can be ascertained by examination by a qualified physician.
Adequate blood studies and ECG should be made available and physician to be consulted with the outcome of these tests reports.

If the heart is okay, old age and environmental condition seems to be the causal factor then with due consultation and advise of a qualified physician these medicines on prescribed doses could be given for the period as advised by a qualified physician only:
1. Etofylline Theophylline tablets (100mg)
2. Torsemide tablets (10mg)
3. Levocetrizine tablets (5mg)

Note: Following is a prescription slip of a 90 years old male patient with dyspnea due to pulmonary edema

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