2023-05-02 12:55:31
Cardiac asthma is often confused with bronchial asthma due to similar symptoms. But they are completely different, and here’s what you need to know, especially as we live in “World Asthma Day”.
Despite its name, cardiac asthma is not bronchial asthma. It is a disorder that results in asthma-like symptoms such as wheezing, coughing, and breathing difficulties. It is a type of cough that occurs with left heart failure, not asthma.
Dr. Kaushal Chhatrapati, an interventional cardiologist, says that everything regarding the disease should be shared, but it should not be confused with bronchial asthma, according to a report published by the specialized medical website “healthshots”.
What is cardiac asthma?
Cardiac asthma is often confused with bronchial asthma because of its symptoms, which are very similar to asthma. It is usually characterized by shortness of breath, wheezing, and severe discomfort. But this is where the similarity ends.
According to Chhatrapati, cardiac asthma is shortness of breath from cardiac causes, and in general “heart failure”. When the heart muscles become weak secondary to any cause (a heart attack is the most common cause), they become ineffective at pumping blood the way they should. Because the decrease in the cardiac ejection fraction (a measure of the percentage of blood that leaves the heart each time it compresses) serves as evidence of this. The normal ejection fraction is expressed as the 65th percentile. When this drops to 40 percent or less, heart failure can occur.
“The blood that your heart can’t pump into the lungs leaks into the tiny air sacs where respiration takes place,” Chhatrapati adds. This then impairs gas exchange and the oxygen level in the blood drops. Consequently, the patient suffers from coughing, difficulty breathing, and wheezing. This is known as cardiac asthma.”
Cardiac Asthma vs. Bronchial Asthma:
According to Dr. Chhatrapati, there are some differences between the two cases:
1. A person at risk of developing bronchial asthma may have a history of allergies and a tendency to have asthma attacks from an early age, and it is preferable to diagnose the condition. But in cardiac asthma, the patient may have a history of heart disease, blood pressure, and diabetes.
2. The quantity and quality of sputum also differ in both cases; Patients with bronchial asthma may produce sticky sputum, while pink frothy sputum indicates cardiac asthma.
3. Rapid and dramatic response to inhalers or aerosols of asthma medications in favor of bronchial asthma. Cardiac asthma generally does not respond to bronchodilators alone, although they may help a little. Intravenous diuretics (diuretics) provide rapid relief of symptoms of cardiac asthma.
4. For the diagnosis, bronchial asthma is diagnosed by checking the history, and lung function tests help. While the ECG may give an idea of the underlying heart disease in cardiac asthma. A two-dimensional echocardiogram is one of the tests used to diagnose cardiac asthma, along with some blood tests.
How to reduce the risk of cardiac asthma?
Since cardiac asthma is caused by heart failure, lowering the risk of heart failure also lowers the risk of cardiac asthma.
Here are some ways to reduce your risk as suggested by your cardiologist:
Talk to your doctor and take medications to prevent underlying risk factors such as high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease regularly.
– If the patient has a low ejection fraction (low EF), he should limit his salt and water intake as per the doctor’s advice.
– Both cardiac and bronchial asthma are caused by infection in the lungs; Therefore, patients must be vaccinated once morest problems such as seasonal influenza and pneumococci.
Cardiac asthma can be a serious disease that leads to many complications. However, if the patient is treated properly he may be able to lead a healthy and productive life.
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