About Respiration Problems

When you're having trouble breathing, it's difficult for your body to get the oxygen it needs to work properly. Breathing problems can be caused by many things, from strenuous exercise or a minor cold to a serious condition, such as lung disease. If you find you're having trouble breathing, you need to find out why.

Causes

• Shortness of breath is often caused by heart and lung problems, since these organs are most involved in getting oxygen to the right places in your body. Other causes may include allergic reactions, asthma, bacterial infections, anxiety, unusually strenuous exercise and environmental factors like heat or high elevations. Obese people and those who get very little exercise may also have trouble breathing.

Symptoms

• Many people describe their respiration problems as a tight band around their chests, or a suffocating sensation. Some say that they feel as though they are drowning. The symptoms may occur rarely, or they may happen regularly. Continuous shortness of breath and other respiration difficulties may indicate a serious problem. See your doctor if you have more than one episode.

Warning

• While some cases of breathing problems are temporary and not worrisome, others present a serious danger. Get emergency medical help if respiration problems are accompanied by squeezing pain in the chest, fainting, nausea or if you feel suddenly and severely short of breath. If you have regular breathing problems, especially at night, or if you have wheezing or symptoms of illness, see your doctor as soon as convenient.

Prevention/Solution

• Prevent respiration problems by keeping your body in good condition, avoiding cigarettes and other sources of inhalants and maintaining good air quality in your home. If you already have symptoms, try to avoid pollutants and get more exercise. Lose weight if your body fat levels are high enough to affect your breathing. Smokers are at risk for more breathing problems, too; talk to your doctor about the best way to quit.

Considerations

• Chronic, long-term breathing problems like asthma and allergies are very common. People with breathing problems related to heart, lung and weight-related issues may mistake their symptoms for an allergy or asthma. See your doctor to have a breathing test performed and to get an X-ray or CT scan. These tests will help determine whether the problem is simply an allergy or whether something else is wrong.