What Is Pulmonary Heart Disease?
Pulmonary heart disease, or cor pulmonale, is a term used to describe a change in the structure and function of the right ventricle of the heart as a result of a respiratory disorder. This disease can develop very slowly and it may e years before one notices symptoms. Most of the people with this disease are middle aged or older. Pulmonary heart disease is a major cause of death and illness and is the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S. Unfortunately at this time there is no cure although efforts continue to minimize the effects of pulmonary heart disease. The damage caused to your airways and lungs can not be reversed, but there are things you can do to help feel better and slow the damage.
This disease is not something you can catch from someone else, although other diseases can have a direct effect on how bad your pulmonary heart disease is. The most common cause of this disease is smoking. Pollution, chemicals, dust, or any other irritants that you are exposed to over a long period of time can cause pulmonary heart disease.
Basically what happens is that your air sacs in your lungs become damaged by the irritants you put in your body. Where they used to be springy and resistant they now have become damaged and do not expand. This causes your heart to work harder as less and less oxygen is being brought in. By working harder it increases the chance that your heart will fail and also increases the stress on the muscle.
Treatment For Pulmonary Heart Disease
The first thing if you are smoking stop. By continuing to smoke you will continue to cause more and more damage to your lungs resulting in eventually full blown pulmonary heart disease. In addition to quitting smoking avoid doing things that would stress your lungs. Working in dust filled and chemical environments will only increase the chance that you condition is going to get worse.
Also you need to try to loose weight if you are overweight to relieve the stress being placed on your heart. A well balanced low fat diet will help to lower your weight and reduce the stress on your heart. In addition exercise will help your lungs to recover somewhat and will also increase the stamina of your heart.
Take these simple steps and you should be able to mitigate as many of the symptoms of pulmonary heart disease as you can.
