The right side of the heart and the arteries in the lungs are both impacted by pulmonary hypertension, a form of high blood pressure.
Blood vessels in the lungs are narrowed, blocked, or destroyed in one type of pulmonary hypertension called pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), which raises blood pressure in the lung arteries and requires the heart to work harder to pump blood through the lungs, eventually weakening and failing the heart muscle.
Although some types of pulmonary hypertension have no known cure, treatment can help reduce symptoms and improve quality of life. In some people, pulmonary hypertension slowly worsens and can be fatal.
SYMPTOMS OF PULMONARY HYPERTENSION
Pulmonary hypertension is characterized by a slow onset of signs and symptoms that may not be apparent for months or even years.
Pulmonary hypertension symptoms include:
- Dyspnea (shortness of breath), first during exercise then later while at rest
- Fatigue
- Unsteadiness or syncopal episodes
- Chest pressure or pain
- Your ankles, legs, and eventually your abdomen (ascites) will swell (edema).
- (Cyanosis) Bluish skin and lips
- racing heartbeat or palpitations
CAUSES OF PULMONARY HYPERTENSION
The right ventricle, located in the lower portion of the heart, pumps blood to the lungs via the pulmonary artery every time blood passes through the heart. The heart has two upper chambers (atria) and two lower chambers (ventricles).
Blood normally flows effortlessly through pulmonary arteries, capillaries, and veins in the lungs to the left side of the heart where it releases carbon dioxide and absorbs oxygen.
The walls of your pulmonary arteries, however, may stiffen, swell, and thicken due to changes in the cells that line them, which may slow or obstruct blood flow through the lungs and result in pulmonary hypertension.
Depending on the cause, there are five different categories for pulmonary hypertension.
Group 1: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH)
Causes include:
- (Papillary arterial hypertension due to idiopathic causes)
- Heritable pulmonary arterial hypertension is caused by a genetic mutation that is passed down through families.
- use of some prescription diet drugs, as well as other drugs, including illegal ones like methamphetamine.
- Congenital heart disease refers to heart conditions present at birth.
- Various other conditions, like HIV infection or cirrhosis, a chronic liver disease characterized by connective tissue disorders (scleroderma, lupus, etc.)
Group 2: Pulmonary hypertension caused by left-sided heart disease
Causes include:
- disease of the mitral or aortic valves, which affects the left heart valves
- Left ventricle (lower left) of the heart failing to function properly
Group 3: Pulmonary hypertension caused by lung disease
Causes include:
- respiratory condition known as COPD
- Scarring in the interstitium, the tissue between the lungs’ air sacs, is a symptom of pulmonary fibrosis.
- Obstructive sleep apnea
- People who may be more susceptible to pulmonary hypertension should avoid prolonged high-altitude exposure
Group 4: Pulmonary hypertension caused by chronic blood clots
Causes include:
- Pulmonary emboli, or persistent blood clots in the lungs
- Other clotting disorders
Group 5: Pulmonary hypertension triggered by other health conditions
Causes include:
- disorders of the blood, such as essential thrombocythemia and polycythemia vera
- Vasculitis and other inflammatory diseases like sarcoidosis
- metabolic diseases, such as disease characterized by glycogen storage
- Kidney disease
- lung arteries being squeezed by tumors
Eisenmenger syndrome and pulmonary hypertension
A ventricular septal defect, also known as a large hole in the heart between the two lower heart chambers (ventricles), is a type of congenital heart disease that frequently results in Eisenmenger syndrome, a condition that results in pulmonary hypertension.
Blood flows improperly through the heart as a result of this hole, mixing oxygen-rich red blood with oxygen-poor blue blood, and returning to the lungs rather than the rest of the body. This causes pulmonary hypertension, which raises the pressure in the pulmonary arteries.
RISK FACTORS
In contrast to idiopathic PAH, which is more common in younger adults, pulmonary hypertension can increase with age. The condition is more frequently diagnosed in patients ages 30 to 60.
The following factors can also increase the risk of pulmonary hypertension:
- the condition runs in the family
- Being overweight
- A family history of pulmonary blood clots or blood clotting disorders
- Exposure to asbestos
- such as congenital heart disease, genetic disorders
- residing in an alpine environment
- using particular weight-loss medications
- use of cocaine and other illicit drugs
- Utilization of SSRIs, which are medications that block the reuptake of serotonin, to treat depression and anxiety
COMPLICATION OF PULMONARY HYPERTENSION
Pneumonia hypertension complications include:
Right-sided heart enlargement and heart failure (cor pulmonale) –Because the pulmonary arteries are constricted or blocked, cor pulmonale causes our right ventricle to enlarge and pump more forcefully than usual.
The right ventricle of the heart initially tries to make up for this shortcoming by thickening its walls and enlarging the chamber, but these modifications put additional strain on the heart, and eventually the right ventricle fails.
Blood clots –In people who already have obstructed or narrowed blood vessels, having pulmonary hypertension increases the risk that blood clots will form in the small arteries in the lungs.
Arrhythmia –The irregular heartbeats (arrhythmias) that can result from pulmonary hypertension can cause palpitations, lightheadedness, or fainting in some cases.
Bleeding in the lungs –Hemoptysis, a condition where people cough up blood, can result from pulmonary hypertension.
Pregnancy complications –A woman’s life and the life of her unborn child may be in danger from pulmonary hypertension.
HOMOEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF PULMONARY HYPERTENSION
The choice of remedy in one of the most well-known holistic medical systems, homeopathy, is based on the holistic approach’s theory of individualization and symptom similarity.
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