How to recognize the symptoms of cardiac asthma?

In those cases where a patient suddenly or gradually has difficulty breathing of varying degrees, caused by a violation of the pumping function of the heart, talk about the development of cardiac asthma.

The main difference between this condition and the bronchial asthma attack is that the state of the respiratory system remains unchanged. If the patient develops cardiac asthma - the symptoms of the disease indicate a progressive failure of the left heart( atrium and ventricle).

The attack of cardiac asthma develops against the background of progression of stagnant phenomena in a small circle of blood circulation - when the blood accumulates in the capillaries of the lungs, the slowing of the blood flow causes the liquid part of it( plasma) to be able to actively sweat through the wall of the blood vessel into the cavity of the alveolus.

This sharply limits the possible area for effective gas exchange - oxygen does not get the opportunity to get to the red blood cells, and carbon dioxide can not freely separate from the red blood cells.

The causes of cardiac asthma largely lie in the fact that these gases begin to foams the blood plasma and the resulting foam further worsens the airway and the overall status of the patient.

Causes of cardiac asthma development

In the vast majority of cases, signs of cardiac asthma occur with the same pathological conditions as pulmonary edema of cardiogenic origin. Often these conditions develop consistently - in those cases when the treatment of asthma does not start on time or is not performed vigorously.

In those episodes where the patient, regardless of the severity of his condition before the onset of the attack, develops cardiac asthma - the symptoms of the disease should not remain without an appropriate assessment and the appointment of effective, comprehensive and multicomponent therapy.

Most often, the cause of the development of cardiac asthma is stenosis of the mitral valve - in modern conditions this disease is more often detected in age-old patients who for a long time suffer from rheumatism. In addition, cardiac asthma can occur when:

• ischemic heart disease - including, with acute myocardial infarction, acute coronary insufficiency, postinfarction cardiosclerosis;
• a complicated course of hypertension - a seizure sharp increase in blood pressure several times increases the risk of this complication;
• myocarditis of various etiologies and postmiocardic cardiosclerosis arising on their background;
• various types of cardiomyopathy;
• glomerulonephritis( acute and chronic course of the disease);
• decompensated aortic heart disease;
• severe degree of decompensation of mitral valve insufficiency;
• heart rhythm disturbances - most often with the development of atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter.

It should be remembered that in those cases when the patient develops cardiac asthma - treatment with folk remedies will never bring the expected effect. Most drugs, which even contain substances that are effective in the therapy of chronic heart failure, will not have time to produce the expected effect - these funds are mostly prescribed inside, and in patients with cardiac asthma, the absorption of any substances through the mucosa of the digestive tract slows down several fold.

When the attack of cardiac insufficiency develops, reflex excitation of the respiratory and vasomotor centers occurs in the trunk portion of the brain.

As a result, the volume of circulating blood( relative or absolute) increases and a simultaneous increase in the return of venous blood to the heart. In this case, cardiac asthma can be treated with folk remedies - on the extremities of the patient, strings can be applied to create a depot of blood and facilitate the work of the heart.

Symptoms of the disease

In the vast majority of cases, an attack of cardiac asthma develops at night or in those cases when the patient is in a horizontal position.

Severe suffocation is often accompanied by fear of death, and shallow and shallow breathing provokes the occurrence of psychomotor agitation.

In addition, the patient may experience a dry cough and a marked lack of air, so the patient tries to network or raise the head end of the bed, if possible, go to the window.

In those cases when the patient develops cardiac asthma, emergency care should be given immediately, otherwise the development of concomitant bronchospasm may be possible( the cause of this condition is the sweat of blood plasma into the lungs of the alveoli).

Methods of treatment

In those cases where the patient develops cardiac asthma - the first medical aid should begin with an immediate call of the "First Aid", before the arrival of which you must sit the patient in a semi-sitting or sitting position. You can lower the feet and brushes in hot water or apply tourniquets to the veins to reduce the return of venous blood to the heart.

In cases where there is a possibility, oxygen inhalation is conducted and the nitroglycerin tablet is given under the patient's tongue - this drug lowers the systemic blood pressure and facilitates the work of the heart, but its uncontrolled use( in the case when the patient does not have IHD) without consulting the doctor categoricallyNot recommended. Other appointments, including injections, should be performed as directed by a qualified doctor.