Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension: Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Treatment

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What happens if pulmonary arterial hypertension is not treated?

Without treatment, PAH can cause a cascade of problems in your heart, lungs and the rest of your body. PAH is one form of pulmonary hypertension. This is a general diagnosis for high blood pressure in your pulmonary arteries from any cause. How does pulmonary arterial hypertension affect my body?

What is pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH)?

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is one form of pulmonary hypertension (high blood pressure in your pulmonary arteries). Symptoms may not appear until the condition has gotten worse. Your provider will run many tests to diagnose you and plan your treatment. PAH medications can improve your quality of life and help you live longer.

How is pulmonary hypertension treated?

Treatments for pulmonary hypertension may include anticoagulant medicines to reduce the blood's ability to thicken (clot) and diuretics to remove excess fluid as a result of heart failure. You may also be offered medicine to widen the blood vessels. Home oxygen therapy may also be prescribed if the level of oxygen in your blood is low.

What is pulmonary hypertension?

Pulmonary hypertension is high blood pressure in the blood vessels that supply the lungs (pulmonary arteries). It's a serious condition that can damage the right side of the heart. The walls of the pulmonary arteries become thick and stiff, and cannot expand as well to allow blood through.

What is pulmonary hypertension (PHT)?

Pulmonary hypertension, or PHT, is high blood pressure in the arteries going to your lungs. Pulmonary blood pressure reflects the pressure the heart exerts to pump blood from the heart through the arteries of the lungs. In other words, it focuses on the pressure of the blood flow in your lungs.

What are pulmonary arteries?

The pulmonary arteries are the blood vessels that carry blood from the heart to the lungs. It may be referred to as “high blood pressure in the lungs”. It is important to know that PH is very different to the more common type of “high blood pressure” that is measured using your arm.

How does pulmonary hypertension affect the lungs?

Pulmonary hypertension is a type of high blood pressure that affects the arteries in the lungs and the right side of the heart. In one form of pulmonary hypertension, called pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), blood vessels in the lungs are narrowed, blocked or destroyed. The damage slows blood flow through the lungs.

What Is Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

1. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/pulmonary-hypertension/
2. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/pulmonary-hypertension/symptoms-causes/syc-20350697
3. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/23913-pulmonary-arterial-hypertension
4. https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/high-blood-pressure/the-facts-about-high-blood-pressure/pulmonary-hypertension-high-blood-pressure-in-the-heart-to-lung-system
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulmonary_hypertension
6. https://www.nhsinform.scot/illnesses-and-conditions/heart-and-blood-vessels/conditions/pulmonary-hypertension
7. https://www.asthmaandlung.org.uk/conditions/pulmonary-hypertension/what-is-it

Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Information

1. https://www.rbht.nhs.uk/sites/nhs/files/Leaflets/Pulmonary%20hypertension%20web.pdf
2. https://www.msdmanuals.com/en-gb/home/lung-and-airway-disorders/pulmonary-hypertension/pulmonary-hypertension
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK482463/