Clinical Information

Dyspnea is a feeling of shortness of breath or inability to breathe deeply. 

The main symptom of dyspnea is labored breathing after strenuous exercise/activity for a few minutes or, if chronic, for an extended period. Aside from that, symptoms may be a feeling of shallow breathing, chest tightness, suffocation, or a noticeable change in breathing pattern after strenuous exercise. 

Causes may differ depending on the type of dyspnea a patient has. Change in location, heart failure, low blood pressure, pneumonia, a collapsed lung, a blood clot in the lungs, a severe allergic reaction, carbon monoxide poisoning, high elevation, stress/anxiety, and extreme temperature are just some of the causes of short-term dyspnea. On the other hand, chronic dyspnea is caused by lung cancer, obesity, pleural effusion, heart disease, COPD, scarring of lung tissue, and asthma. 

Diagnosis involves a practitioner conducting tests to check the patient’s airways and breathing via a physical evaluation, scans, blood tests, spirometry, and pulse oximetry. It’d be helpful if a practitioner had a copy of the patient’s medical history. 

To treat dyspnea, one has to consider the cause. Some common ones are steroids, pain medication, bronchodilators, and rehabilitation.