Cardiac Asthma: Adult Symptoms and Signs, Pulmonary Edema, and Relief for an Attack

Cardiac asthma is a disease resulting from stagnation of blood in the pulmonary circulation and left ventricular failure, which is characterized by interstitial pulmonary edema.

It should be said that this type of asthma is not a separate disease, but a clinical syndrome, which is accompanied by various symptoms. Asthma can be fatal if left untreated.

The cause of the development of cardiac asthma can be various diseases of the heart or any other internal organs.

This type of asthma is often a complication of ischemic heart disease, cardiosclerosis, acute inflammation of the heart muscle (myocarditis), cardiomyopathy, and thinning of the myocardium of the heart chamber.

Can lead to cardiac asthma hypertensive crisiswhich puts excessive stress on the heart, tachyarrhythmia, or arrhythmia.

Sometimes this pathology develops due to aortic or mitral decompensated heart defects.

Cardiac asthma may indicate the presence of blood clots or tumors that block the normal flow of blood from the heart.

An infectious disease (inflammation of the lungs or kidneys), severe cerebrovascular accident, and an unhealthy lifestyle can cause cardiac asthma. Risk factors for the development of this disease include heavy physical exertion, mental stress, introduction into the body a large amount of fluid (for example, the introduction of fluid with a dropper in patients with fever), a long stay of the body in a horizontal position.

Eating large amounts of food before bed and trying to self-medicate diseases of the cardiovascular system at home conditions with the help of herbs, decoctions, infusions or simply incorrectly selected drugs also often cause disease.

The pathogenesis of cardiac asthma consists in the deterioration of intracardiac hemodynamics in the parts of the heart on the left. This phenomenon leads to an increase in the volume of blood in the vessels and an increase in pressure in them.

As a result of an increase in the permeability of the walls of blood vessels, blood plasma begins to exit into the lung tissue. Thus, the patient's ventilation of the lungs worsens and the exchange of air between the blood and the alveoli is impaired.

Separately, it should be said about the neuroreflex links of respiratory regulation. With cardiac asthma, patients experience overexcitation of the respiratory center due to impaired blood circulation or reflexively.

Symptoms and signs of cardiac asthma in adults, diagnosis

The first sign of cardiac asthma is usually severe shortness of breath and a feeling of tightness in the chest throughout 2-3 days.

In addition, patients may experience mild coughing, which usually occurs when performing physical activity or while in a horizontal position.

The most common symptoms of cardiac asthma in adults occur at night. This is due to the fact that during sleep, a person's blood circulation in a small circle increases. During the day, an asthma attack occurs after severe emotional distress or hard physical work.

Signs of cardiac asthma always include severe shortness of breath, followed by shortness of breath, followed by choking. At the same time, there is a dry, annoying cough, which after a while becomes wet (a small amount of mucus comes out).

It is difficult for a patient with heart asthma to lie down, so he has to sit down or stand. At this time, he speaks heavily, indistinctly and breathes through his mouth. During an attack, patients often have panic, a strong fear of death.

At the same time, they have a blue discoloration of the skin in the area of ​​the nasolabial triangle and phalanges of the fingers, as well as an increase in blood pressure and an acceleration of the heartbeat. If you listen to the patient's chest, you can hear scanty wheezing in the lower part of the lungs.

Symptoms of cardiac asthma in adults can last from a few minutes to several hours. It depends on the underlying cause of the pathology. With a protracted course of an asthma attack, the patient's skin becomes gray, the veins in the neck swell, blood pressure drops, and the person feels severe weakness.

In severe cases, cold sweat begins to appear. If cardiac asthma turns into pulmonary edema, the patient begins to discharge frothy sputum mixed with blood.

Despite the fact that the symptoms of cardiac asthma in adults are quite pronounced, a thorough diagnosis of the pathology is still necessary.

First of all, the doctor must make sure that the patient has precisely cardiac asthma, and not a narrowing of the lumen of the larynx, a nervous seizure or compression of the veins of the mediastinum.

For an accurate diagnosis, it is necessary to examine the patient, evaluate his complaints, take anamnesis, as well as perform an ECG and X-ray. Listening to the heart during an attack is difficult because the sounds of the heart interrupt the wheezing of the lungs (they are usually scattered and dry).

Some information can be given by measuring blood pressure and pulse. With an attack of cardiac asthma, the pulse has a weak filling, but at the same time it is quite frequent. At the same time, blood pressure is initially strongly increased, and then gradually decreases and becomes lowered.

On the X-ray of these patients, one can see a strong overflow of the arteries and vessels of the small kuga with blood. In this case, the pulmonary fields become much less transparent. In most cases, there is an expansion and decrease in the clarity of the pulmonary roots, the formation of Curly lines (a sign of cardiac asthma and pulmonary edema).

ECG in cardiac asthma, it may show a decrease in the ST interval and the amplitude of the waves. In some cases, signs of arrhythmias in combination with coronary insufficiency may also be observed.

If cardiac asthma occurs in combination with bronchospasm, the doctor, when making a diagnosis, takes into account the patient's age. Cardiac asthma usually occurs in older people.

The specialist may also ask if the patient suffers from allergies, chronic inflammatory pathologies respiratory organs and whether there is any acute or chronic disease of the organs of the cardiovascular systems.

Cardiac (cardiac) asthma and pulmonary edema: first aid, dietary and lifestyle recommendations

Most people mistakenly believe that bronchial and cardiac asthma are one and the same disease. This is due to the fact that these pathologies are characterized by fine symptoms, namely, shortness of breath and dyspnea.

In bronchial asthma, symptoms are caused by inflammation of the respiratory system and their interstitial edema, while the cause of cardiac asthma is failure in the left atrium and ventricle.

Bronchial asthma, in contrast to cardiac asthma, has a chronic course, while the latter is characterized by sudden attacks.

Another difference between these diseases is that cardiac asthma has nothing to do with allergies, while as the cause of bronchial asthma is often precisely the contact of the mucous membranes of the respiratory system with allergens.

When diagnosing cardiac asthma, the doctor may note that a person has a bubbling in the chest area, while wheezing is present in the bronchial form of the disease.

However, the most important difference between these pathologies is that cardiac asthma is not an independent disease, but a complication some serious long-term pathology, while bronchial asthma is an independent disease that can be treated drug Nucala.

It is important to understand that cardiac asthma and pulmonary edema are serious problems that, if left untreated, can have serious consequences. That is why everyone should know how to help a patient with an asthma attack.

In this case, experts recommend adhering to the following algorithm of actions:

1. At the first sign of an attack, call a doctor.
2. The patient must be provided with complete rest. Windows need to be opened in the house to provide fresh air. Any tight clothing should be unbuttoned. These simple steps will help prevent oxygen starvation of the heart muscle.
3. The patient should be seated on a chair. At the same time, the legs should be lowered down. This will help blood flow out of the heart muscle and help prevent venous blood from stagnating in the lungs. To reduce the blood pressure effect, the patient's lower leg can be warmed up.
4. If possible, the patient should be given a tablet of Validol or Nitroglycerin. This will help dilate your blood vessels and relax your muscles. However, taking these drugs under reduced blood pressure is not recommended.
5. If serous transuditis comes from the patient's mouth and at the same time it foams, then it should be removed to ensure normal oxygen permeability.
6. After the tablet of Nitroglycerin or Validol is absorbed, the patient must be given Aspirin. This drug thins the blood and makes it easier for the heart.
7. If after 10 minutes Nitroglycerine will not have the desired effect, the dose must be repeated. In severe cases, the drug can be used every 5-10 minutes.

This is all that a person without medical education can help a patient with an attack of cardiac asthma.

After the arrival of doctors, the victim has the following actions:

1. Inhalation is carried out with humidified air, which is passed through a defoamer. The most commonly used defoamer is alcohol in combination with antifoamsilane. In this case, the air flow rate should be no more than 2-3 l per minute for the first five minutes. After that, 6 to 7 liters of air are supplied per minute. This allows you to effectively saturate the lungs with oxygen.
2. If the patient has a hypertensive crisis and at the same time there is pulmonary edema and cardiac asthma, bloodletting is performed. In this case, up to 400 ml of blood is drained from the vein.
3. After that, doctors observe the patient for some time. They measure his blood pressure and pulse, and write down all the data on paper.
4. If the patient does not get better, he is injected with a narcotic analgesic (Diphenhydramine or Suprastin) and given powerful diuretics (for example, sodium chloride solution).
5. With a very high pressure, a ganglion blocker is injected, and with a rapid heartbeat, a solution of strophanthin.

After completing these actions, the patient is transported on a stretcher to an ambulance and taken to the intensive care unit, where the cause of the pathology is subsequently established.

Treatment of pulmonary edema and cardiac asthma is carried out by a cardiologist. It should be understood that even the best doctor cannot cure a patient if he does not change his lifestyle. This category of patients should stop smoking, drinking alcohol and drinks with a high caffeine content.

They should spend a lot of time outdoors, sleep a sufficient number of hours, and play sports. It is important to note that sports should not put a lot of stress on the body. In this case, walking or cycling is ideal. Overweight people need to get rid of it.

People with cardiac asthma should not overeat. You need to eat 5-6 once a day, but in small portions. It is not recommended to eat a lot of meat, fatty and spicy foods, chocolate, flour products, and smoked meats. Salt intake is best reduced to 5-6 gram per day.

Patients should eat foods high in potassium (bananas, nuts, raisins, dried apricots). Drinking fluids should be limited to 1.2-1.5 l per day (liquid meals and tea should also be considered).

An attack of cardiac asthma: treatment with medicines and folk remedies, prognosis

After the attack of cardiac asthma is eliminated and the patient is taken to the hospital, treatment is carried out with nitroglycerin in an injection form. It will help speed up the flow of blood from the heart.

In addition, Furosemide and Lasix are injected into the vein. These drugs remove fluid from the body and thereby reduce the volume of circulating blood.

It is worth saying that these funds, as well as Nitroglycerin, lower blood pressure, therefore, in addition to them, hypotensive patients need to be given medications to increase vascular tone (Mezaton, Dopamine).

In order to adjust the heart rate and improve the contractility of the heart muscle, Strofantin is prescribed. In combination with these drugs, it is also recommended to use Euphyllin, a medicine that relaxes the muscles and thereby improves blood flow.

To eliminate anxiety and fear, patients can be given antipsychotics (Droperidol), and to eliminate pain, narcotic analgesics (morphine derivatives). In parallel with this, drug treatment of the underlying disease is also carried out, which caused this pathology.

As you can see, severe medications are mainly used to treat cardiac asthma. That is why only a doctor should carry out treatment. It should be noted that cardiac asthma does not always require hospitalization.

These measures are necessary only if the patient has had a severe course of an attack of cardiac asthma or, after the attack has been eliminated, the victim feels unwell. If cardiac asthma manifests itself in a mild form, the patient does not need to be hospitalized, but it is recommended that he the shortest possible time to consult a doctor to find out and eliminate the underlying disease, the complication of which has become asthma.

Treatment with medicines can always be supplemented with traditional medicine. So, to reduce the load on the myocardium, patients can take a decoction of lingonberry. This requires 1 tbsp. l. dry lingonberry leaves pour a glass of boiling water. After that, the product should cool down. The filtered broth is recommended to be consumed 80 ml 3 times a day half an hour before meals.

Rosehip tea can be used as a diuretic. In addition to the main effect, it will saturate the body with a huge amount of vitamins and minerals. To do this, grind 1 tbsp. l. fruits of the plant and place them in a thermos.

After that, boiling water is poured into a thermos. Tea should be infused for about 8 hours, after which it is filtered and consumed in 150 ml 3 times a day before meals.

Hawthorn fruits can have a positive effect on the heart muscle, lower blood pressure and reduce the amount of cholesterol in the blood. To make a medicine, you need 1 tbsp. l. dry fruits of the plant pour a glass of boiling water. Let it brew for an hour. The ready-made infusion is consumed in 2 tbsp. l. 4 times a day before meals.

If cardiac asthma is accompanied by anxiety and hypertension, motherwort broth can be used. This requires 1 tbsp. l. dry herbs, pour a glass of boiling water and put everything on low heat for 20 minutes. After this time, the broth should be saturated for an hour. The finished medicine is consumed in 1/3 of a glass 3 times a day 15 minutes before meals.

The prognosis of cardiac asthma directly depends on the pathology that caused it. As a rule, it is unfavorable. Without medical care, there is a high risk of sudden death.

With proper treatment of the underlying disease and following all the doctor's recommendations, cardiac asthma attacks can be prevented. In some cases, it is possible to improve the patient's condition and overcome his working capacity for several years.

Prevention of cardiac asthma consists in the timely treatment of coronary heart disease, hypertension, infectious and inflammatory diseases of internal organs, maintaining a healthy lifestyle, as well as observing water-salt regime.