What is exertional dyspnea?

Exertional dyspnea basics

When we hear talking about   exertional dyspnea or in other words “shortness of breath” one must think to the difficulty of breathing when is doing an exercise or easier said, lack of comfort in breathing. But isn’t it normal to experience some kind of dyspnea when we are exercising? Apparently not! In the next article I’m going to explain what is exertional dyspnea, when it appears, when we say this condition is pathological or not and what causes it.
The word “dypnea” is originally composed from two greek words: “dysp” which means hard, heavy, difficult and “pnoia” that means breathing. If we combine these two words we have “hard breathing”also said dyspnea. Dyspnea is a breathing disorder characterized by changing the pace and intensity of respiratory movements.
Exertional dyspnea is frequently overlooked because it can occur to healthy people and is frequent confused with fatigue. It isn’t always a pathological symptom. You can experience exertional dyspnea when you are exercising more than your body is used to, if you have a weight problem (you weigh to much or you are obese), if you are an active smoker, or if the air around you is polluted.
Exertional dyspnea becomes pathological and that means that we should worry and go see a doctor when even if we make the same exercise as we did before we feel like our lungs aren’t getting enough air.

 But how does exertional dyspnea appear ?

Dyspnea due to illness can occur when there is an imbalance between tissue oxygen demand, and the amount of oxygen that the body can provide. Many diseases can give exertional dyspnea , the most common being:

• anemia (lack of blood) - Shortness of breath is accompanied by pale skin

• disease with increased energy consumption (as in cancers with different locations, hyperthyroidism, and uncompensated diabetes
• lung disease (dyspnea by lack of oxygen) of various causes, dyspnea is accompanied by coughing and / or wheezing and  sputum
• heart disease – exertional dyspnea occurs first and then it can occur during  rest or lying down, the patient can also feel palpitations and chest pains
• serious liver disease (cirrhosis) - liver as “laboratory” of the body, shortness of breath occurs in cirrhosis by multiple mechanisms
• severe kidney disease - shortness of breath occurs with changes in fluid and electrolyte balance or anemia (erythropoietin synthesized by  kidney, substance that stimulates the bone marrow to manufacture red blood cells that are the cells that  transport oxygen around the body)
• hypertension – exertional dyspnea  occurs by forcing the heart and the  blood vessel
• obesity (fat in the chest and abdomen pressed, preventing the movement of breath, plus a larger amount of tissue needs a greater amount of oxygen).

As you can see there are many conditions that can  manifest as exertional dyspnea, some of them  really serious diseases and that’s why is very important to go see a doctor whenever you notice changes in your breathing rhythm or you experience respiratory problems.