Shortness of breath, dizziness and fatigue could mean different things when it comes to your health. They could be your body’s way of saying it’s exhausted, but it could also be a warning that you have a deadly condition known as pulmonary hypertension. While many of us have heard about regular hypertension, or high blood pressure, few may know about pulmonary hypertension, which is often defined as high blood pressure in the lungs.
Despite the increasing numbers of people being diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension, it remains a little-known and deadly condition that is often ignored until it is too late. Left untreated, this rare condition gets worse over time, causing heart failure and eventually death. That’s why it is so important to spot the warning signs early.
Dr. Michael Duncan is a pulmonologist with the Indiana University Health Pulmonary Vascular Disease Center who specializes in treating such conditions. He answers some of the most frequently asked questions about this rare disease.
What is pulmonary hypertension?
Pulmonary hypertension is a condition in which the blood pressure in the lungs is abnormally elevated.
What causes this disorder?
There are numerous causes for pulmonary hypertension and they are grouped into a handful of separate categories based on the primary causes. For example, group I includes pulmonary hypertension resulting from autoimmune diseases and certain types of medications while group II includes heart diseases such as congestive heart failure. Group III includes lung diseases such as emphysema and pulmonary fibrosis, etc.
What are the symptoms?
Initially, there may be no symptoms but eventually patients begin to experience increasing shortness of breath with less and less physical exertion. Other possible symptoms include chest pain or pressure, fatigue or fainting.
Is pulmonary hypertension easy to detect? Is it sometimes confused with other conditions?
Yes. As the symptoms are very nonspecific and can mimic many other conditions, it can be very hard to detect it early and the diagnosis is frequently made late. Pulmonary hypertension can also be a complicating contributor of a pre-existing process such as emphysema or obstructive sleep apnea.
Who is most at risk for developing pulmonary hypertension? Are certain populations at a higher risk for this disorder?
This is a disease that affects individuals from both sexes and all races. Patients with lung and heart disease are at risk for developing secondary pulmonary hypertension, while patients with certain genetics or history of autoimmune diseases, HIV or the use of appetite suppressing drugs are at risk of developing pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).
Is this disease curable and treatable? If so, what are the most effective treatments?
Pulmonary hypertension is a treatable, but not curable, condition. For patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension, the treatment is aimed specifically at lowering the pressure and improving the function of the right side of the heart. For the other kinds of pulmonary hypertension, the treatment is generally aimed at improving the precipitating cause.
At the IU Health Pulmonary Vascular Disease Center, we offer a multidisciplinary team involving pulmonary and cardiac specialists that specializes in the definitive and timely diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary hypertension. We conduct an in-depth review of the patient’s history that leads to appropriate testing which might include a heart catheterization and ultimately a treatment regimen aimed at improving the patient’s symptoms and quality of life.
