Doctors use the term COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) for lung conditions such as emphysema, chronic bronchitis, chronic asthma (hypersensitivity of the air passages) all which have one thing in common: they limit the flow of air into and out of the lungs. You may cough, wheeze, have a large amount of mucus production, and feel short of breath with any of these lung conditions.
Emphysema is where the walls of the alveoli are destroyed and lose the elasticity. Ruptured alveoli combine to form larger sacs that restrict the exchange of air and gas to and from the lungs. When breathing, air becomes trapped in the air sacs which makes it harder for fresh air (oxygen) to come in and waste air (carbon dioxide) to go out.
Chronic Bronchitis is where the airways become swollen and inflamed and produce large amounts of mucus. Swollen airways narrow the air passage and with mucus overproduction, can make breathing difficult. Chronic Bronchitis includes coughing and/or mucus production for three or more years. In the early stages, a cough usually occurs in the morning and as the condition progresses, coughing persists throughout the day with mucus production and shortness of breath.
Asthma- Your airways are surrounded by muscles which relax to open breathing passages, or constrict and cause airways to narrow. The airways are very sensitive to irritants and exposed to things such as smoke, fumes, pollutants and cold air become irritated. They produce more mucus and the muscles surrounding them tighten, causing cough, wheezing and shortness of breath.
CHF is a condition in which the heart can’t pump enough blood to the body’s other organs. This can result from:
- narrowed arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle--coronary artery disease
- past heart attack, or myocardial infarction, with scar tissue that interferes with the heart muscles normal work
- high blood pressure
- heart valve disease due to past rheumatic fever or other causes
- primary disease of the hear muscle itself, called cariomyopathy
- heart defects present at birth-congenital heart defects
- infection of the heart valves and/or heart muscle itself—endocarditis and/or myocarditis
The the heart keeps working but not as efficiently as it should. People with heart failure can’t exert themselves because they become short of breath and tired.
As blood flow out of the heart slows, blood returning to the heart through the veins backs up, causing congestion in the tissues. Often swelling (edema) results. Most often there’s swelling in the legs and ankles, but it can happen in other parts of the body, too. Sometimes fluid collects in the lungs and interferes with breathing, causing shortness of breath, especially when a person is lying down.
