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Pulmonary Hypertension
Pulmonary hypertension is a rare disease. Because many health care professionals are not too familiar with it, it is often not diagnosed soon enough and has a tendency to progress into its later stages. Pulmonary hypertension is an abnormal elevation of the pressure in the blood vessels of the lungs. This disease is devastating and chronic. Unfortunately it has a poor long-term prognosis.
Symptoms
The symptoms of pulmonary hypertension mock the symptoms of a heart attack. Because the lungs are not able to perform normally, the heart is not able to supply the body with an ample supply of oxygenated blood. Therefore, the heart becomes starved and feelings that normally occur during a heart incident are experienced.
Diagnosis
Diagnosis often begins with an EKG. All too often tracking down pulmonary hypertension takes way too long. Sometimes, it may even take years before the final correct diagnosis is made. You can see how a disease with such a large head start can be very formidable.
In recent years advances have been made and more information is available to help with the diagnoses of pulmonary hypertension.
Treatment
Specialized treatment exists for pulmonary hypertension. Care by a specialist is required and there are several different stages of care that will be administered according to which stage of illness the patient is in.
The early stage of illness may require intravenous with constant hospitalized attention. Later in the illness certain types of medications will be prescribed as the patient is recovering.
Long range treatment will vary from individual to individual based on the different underlying causes but generally it will include taking medications and making lifestyle changes. Eventually, surgery may become necessary.
Primary Pulmonary Hypertension
Another type of pulmonary hypertension is called primary pulmonary hypertension. This is most prevalent in persons 20 to 40 years of age. It is unusual in children and occurs more often in young women. Nobody knows what causes primary pulmonary hypertension. This rare disease destroys the blood flow throughout the lungs and as a result can cause the heart to fail.
Conclusion
Pulmonary hypertension is rarely discovered in a routine medical examination, and in its later stages, the signs of the disease can be confused with other conditions affecting the heart and lungs. When pulmonary hypertension is caused by an underlying medical condition, it is called secondary pulmonary hypertension. These conditions can, usually be controlled in a relatively routine manner. However, primary pulmonary hypertension is usually progressive and can be fatal.
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