Symptoms and treatment of shortness of breath in heart failure

Shortness of breath in heart failure requires immediate treatment, because heart failure can be fatal if the necessary medications are not prescribed in time.

You need to be able to recognize the symptoms of the disease and choose the appropriate treatment.

With this pathology, there are difficulties in delivering nutrients and oxygen through the blood vessels to the heart. This is quite enough for the work of the heart muscle to be disrupted, and the body to suffer a serious loss of strength.

General characteristics of shortness of breath

If we analyze shortness of breath in HF, we can see that it does not depend on whether the person is in a calm state or is engaged in physical labor.

Shortness of breath with this pathology is very similar to the condition of an unprepared person after a long run.

It may be accompanied by:

• burning in the lungs;
• increased breathing.

All these are quite natural symptoms if there is a severe lack of oxygen in the body. It can also occur not only during exercise, but also during a stressful situation, which causes a sharp release of adrenaline into the blood. When a person is very worried or afraid, his nervous system produces a large supply of the hormone, raising blood pressure. There is a possibility of shortness of breath in a person who is at complete rest. This type of pathology can indicate a variety of diseases, one of which is heart failure.

The mechanism of dyspnea is as follows:

1. The lungs do not fully saturate the blood, causing starvation of tissues and other organs.
2. To get rid of this condition, the brain sends a signal to speed up breathing by almost 2-3 times in order to double the amount of air in the lung cavity.
3. If the heart cannot cope with the stress, shortness of breath occurs, which stimulates the work of the body, directing it to replenish the amount of oxygen that is necessary to continue the heart rhythm in the previous mode.

When shortness of breath occurs

Violation of the respiratory rate and lack of oxygen can be associated not only with constant physical exertion, but also with the presence of an acute or chronic form of heart failure, which must be treated using special drugs. If you do not get rid of the disease at the initial stage, then soon the need for constant monitoring by a cardiologist or pulmonologist will “break into” a person’s life. A visit to two doctors is due to the fact that a complication of the disease can cause pulmonary edema. Accordingly, all this can lead to the accumulation of fluid in the cavity of the lung sac, which is almost impossible to get rid of, you can only try to treat a new disease, while there is still an opportunity.

If we talk about chronic heart failure, then one of its constant symptoms is shortness of breath. Due to the disturbed work of the heart, a spasm of small arterioles occurs, so gas exchange is sharply disturbed.

Before taking various medications, it is necessary to consider the features by which ACHF can be distinguished from any other disease:

1. Shortness of breath appears when performing heavy physical labor, during its absence the body feels good.
2. After the appearance of the first sign, there is a pattern according to which the frequency of occurrence of lack of air is directly proportional to the stress on the body. Shortness of breath begins to appear even at rest or when performing small physical actions.
3. The state of shortness of breath occurs sharply when the body assumes a horizontal position.
4. There are symptoms of circulatory disorders:

• cough;
• edema;
• blue tint of lips or skin;
• high blood pressure;
• chronic fatigue.

Types of shortness of breath by type of physical activity

Given that shortness of breath in heart failure occurs from excessive activity, which is beyond the power of this organism, it is necessary to clearly understand what it can cause and how to treat it.

There are four varieties, ranked from the initial to the final stage:

1. The state of shortness of breath appears if the body has been subjected to numerous physical exertion.
2. Shortness of breath occurs if a person was engaged in feasible work for him.
3. Any attempts to perform elementary physical work are accompanied by rapid breathing and lack of air.
4. The complete absence of stress on the body does not at all reduce the symptoms of shortness of breath.

Of course, the first stage is not so terrible, although you need to think about the likelihood of a disease on it. If the condition has reached the fourth stage, then it is worth considering finding a doctor who can prescribe the correct treatment for dyspnea in HF.

There is also a separate species, which is characterized by the occurrence of shortness of breath at night:

1. When a person lies on a bed, the blood moves more actively to the heart through the veins.
2. In the presence of disease, the main human organ is not able to master the huge influx of blood without any stimulation.
3. In the lungs, stagnation of red fluid occurs, which is very difficult to remove.
4. All this leads to shortness of breath, which does not go away until the person starts taking the appropriate drugs or develops the habit of sleeping while sitting, so as not to once again create additional stress on the heart muscle.

Symptoms of shortness of breath

Before prescribing the right pills to the patient, the doctor must see the appropriate symptoms.

These include:

• difficulty in inhaling, provided that there are no factors preventing it;
• the occurrence of shortness of breath or its increase with any physical activity;
• the occurrence of shortness of breath or its increase when a person takes a lying state. The disease will be especially clearly shown if, after a couple of minutes of taking a vertical position, shortness of breath will decrease or disappear altogether.

You should not take this condition as the norm, most likely, a person needs to immediately find a medicine that can cure or at least alleviate his illness.

Treatment of shortness of breath in heart failure

In fact, it is necessary to pay attention to the heart muscle, in violation of the activity of which symptoms similar to shortness of breath began to appear.

If this condition appears unexpectedly, you do not need to make an appointment at the clinic. Only emergency hospitalization can help here, which is likely to reveal an acute form of cardiac asthma or pulmonary edema. In any other cases, you can wait for the decision of the doctor who will prescribe the appropriate drugs for admission. Only an integrated approach can help, when a person will not only take medication, but also work on his lifestyle.

To balance the costs of the heart on the circulatory system, special drugs are usually prescribed that restore the condition of the arteries and increase the amount of fluids excreted from the body.

First aid for an unexpected attack of shortness of breath

The mechanism of action is as follows:

1. First, you should open the window so that the person has access to fresh air, which the body lacks so much.
2. Next, you need to unfasten everything that can squeeze the chest, preventing the ability to take a full breath.
3. If a person is lying, then he needs to be raised or at least planted. Do not allow him to take postures in which the legs are on the same level with the heart.
4. Find Nitroglycerin and place one tablet under the patient's tongue, using an oxygen bag if possible.