Pulmonary Hypertension

Asthma wheezing is a whistling sound that happens when a person breathes through narrowed airway passages in the lungs. It can occur after exposure to a trigger that causes swelling of the airway lining and tightening of the surrounding muscles. This can make breathing difficult. People with asthma typically wheeze when breathing out, but some may also experience it when breathing in. Treatment usually involves a combination of short and long-acting medications. The short-term drugs act quickly to alleviate wheezing and other asthma symptoms, while the long-term drugs stop the airways from narrowing, which helps prevent wheezing. Asthma can have serious effects. It results in 439,000 hospitalizations and 1.3 million visits to the emergency room every year. Keep reading to learn more about asthma wheezing, its treatment, and when to contact a doctor. Wheezing is a high-pitched whistling or squeaky sound that occurs when a person breathes through constricted airways. Some people describ...

High blood pressure, or hypertension, can lead to serious health concerns like a heart attack or stroke. But because hypertension doesn't typically cause symptoms, many people who have it don't even know. That's why it's so important to regularly check your blood pressure. If you have hypertension, you may have heard that cannabidiol (CBD) can help lower blood pressure. Here's what the research says, plus tips for finding a few products to explore. Blood pressure is defined as the pressure of blood against the walls of the arteries. While it's normal for blood pressure rates to rise and fall over the course of a day, consistently high blood pressure levels are an issue. There are two kinds of hypertension: Primary hypertension is the most common. It develops gradually with no discernible cause, but it may be linked to genetics, physical changes in the body, or high body weight. Secondary hypertension comes on quickly and can be more serious. It has a number of...

Tero Vesalainen/Getty My untreated  invisible illness used to make each and every day a living nightmare. I was constantly exhausted from trying to push through this low-level, underlying uneasiness that I tried to attribute to everything else besides what it actually was. My anxiety, y'all — it was my anxiety. In fact, I didn't even decide to seek treatment  for my anxiety until it started manifesting physically.  It wasn't a flash of panic or a brief worry spell that pushed me over the edge. Oh no, my friends. I'd been having  difficulty taking a deep breath  for some time by that point. Not a sigh, not shortness of breath, but that deep, relaxing, filling your lungs all the way kind of breath.  I couldn't do it . I would pace my office back and forth, looking like a madwoman. If you listened hard enough, you could hear me under my breath, coaching myself to just breathe, damn...

Shortness of breath, or dyspnea, occurs when a person feels that they are unable, or less able than usual, to take enough air into the lungs. The sensation of shortness of breath is subjective. For instance, some people may describe the feeling as a sensation of suffocating. For others, they may feel unable to take a deep breath. Regardless of the exact description, experiencing shortness of breath is uncomfortable and may lead to additional symptoms or complications. Shortness of breath may occur occasionally or frequently, and it has many different potential causes. Keep reading to learn more about the causes, treatment, and prevention methods associated with shortness of breath. Many people experience shortness of breath during and after exercise. It can also occur due to changes in altitude or temperature. Usually, however, there is more than one cause of shortness of breath. Shortness of breath has a large variety of possible causes. The most common include: Learn more about the c...

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in women in the United States. Women experience heart disease differently than men. Understanding those differences can help women access the appropriate healthcare resources quickly. Reducing risk factors and focusing on prevention are important to decreasing the negative impact of heart disease in women. SimonSkafar / Getty Images Causes of Heart Disease in Women Heart disease encompasses different heart and blood vessel conditions, such as coronary artery disease, vascular disease, high blood pressure, and heart failure. The most common cause of heart disease is atherosclerosis. It is caused by plaque buildup, a collection of cholesterol and fatty deposits, on the walls of the arteries. Over time, atherosclerosis restricts blood flow to the heart. As blood flow becomes more restricted, the heart lacks oxygen and nutrient-rich blood. This condition is called ischemia, and the heart becomes less effective....

Introduction Acute Heart Failure (AHF) is defined as the rapid development or change of signs and symptoms of heart failure (HF) that requires urgent medical intervention. 1 On admission, patients with AHF may experience numerous signs and symptoms including dyspnea, paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea, elevated jugular venous pressure, peripheral edema, murmur, S 3 gallop, orthopnea, neck vein distension, and easy fatigability. 2 Cardiac conditions such as uncontrolled hypertension (HTN), arrhythmias, as well as non-cardiac situations such as diabetes mellitus, renal dysfunction, infection, and non-adherence to medical regimen are major precipitants that may lead to decompensation and hospital admissions. 3–11 Infection, arrhythmia, anemia, myocardial infarction, and drug discontinuation are the most frequent precipitant factors for AHF admission in Ethiopia. 12 Despite the recent advances in therapy for HF, several scientific literatures described that majority of hospitalized acute...

Key Takeaways Inaccessibility of in-person mental health care left many searching for alternative ways to ease their mind during the pandemic. Guided meditation apps and videos emerged as a valuable tool to help people cope with stress and anxiety. Meditation will likely play a growing role in helping people manage their mental health in the post-pandemic era. The COVID-19 pandemic has taken an undeniable toll on many people's mental health around the world.  With roughly 4 in 10 U.S. adults reporting symptoms of anxiety or depression during the pandemic, compared to 1 in 10 adults in 2019, this drastic decline in mental well-being has been labeled by experts as a pandemic of its own.  Young adults aged 18 to 24 fared the worst, with 56% reporting to have anxiety or depressive disorder, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation survey. This growing phenomenon left countless people searching for mental health support online in the e...