Why do I feel chest tightness and difficulty breathing?

For those who suffer from chest tightness and difficulty breathing, they really want to know the cause of the chest tightness and difficulty breathing. So what causes chest tightness and difficulty breathing? Next, this article will introduce you to the relevant content about what causes chest tightness and difficulty breathing, for your reference only. Friends who want to know more about this can take a look!

What causes chest tightness and difficulty breathing? Chest tightness and difficulty breathing are likely caused by myocardial ischemia. Myocardial ischemia refers to a pathological condition in which the heart's blood perfusion is reduced, resulting in reduced oxygen supply to the heart, abnormal myocardial energy metabolism, and inability to support the normal functioning of the heart.

The common cause of myocardial ischemia is coronary atherosclerosis, followed by inflammation (rheumatic, syphilitic, Kawasaki disease and vascular occlusive vasculitis, etc.), spasm, embolism, connective tissue disease, trauma and congenital malformations. Epidemiological studies have found that important risk factors associated with atherosclerosis are hyperlipidemia, hypertension, diabetes, smoking, obesity, elevated homocysteine, lack of physical activity, advanced age, and male gender.

Clinical manifestations of myocardial ischemia are as follows:

1. When tired or mentally stressed, dull pain or tightening pain may occur behind the sternum or in front of the heart, radiating to the left shoulder and left upper arm, lasting for 3 to 5 minutes. The pain may be relieved after rest, and may be accompanied by profuse sweating.

2. Those who experience chest tightness, palpitations, and shortness of breath during physical activities, which are relieved by themselves during rest.

3. Exercise-related sore throat, burning sensation, tightness, toothache, etc.

4. People who experience chest pain or tightness after a full meal, cold weather, or drinking.

5. People who feel chest tightness and shortness of breath when sleeping with a low pillow at night and need to lie in a high pillow to feel comfortable; people who suddenly have chest pain, palpitations, and difficulty breathing when sleeping soundly or lying flat during the day and need to sit up or stand up immediately to feel relieved.

6. Feeling of panic, chest tightness, shortness of breath or chest pain during sexual intercourse or straining to defecate.

7. Sudden bradycardia, low blood pressure or syncope.

Measures to prevent myocardial ischemia include:

1. Eat a light diet low in salt and fat, eat more vegetables such as sweet potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, black fungus, and drink some green tea. Tea contains a small amount of theanine, which has a certain diuretic effect and is helpful for the treatment of myocardial ischemia in patients. Tea also contains vitamin C, which can play a good role in preventing and treating arteriosclerosis, but it should not be too concentrated.

2. Keep your emotions stable, avoid extreme joy or sorrow, get enough sleep, have regular bowel movements, and avoid overwork.

3. Moderate exercise can promote the establishment of myocardial collateral circulation.

4. If there are any changes in your condition, seek medical treatment promptly.

5. Drugs for primary prevention of coronary heart disease include aspirin, beta-blockers, calcium ion antagonists, statins, and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors.

The above is an introduction to what causes chest tightness and difficulty breathing. I believe that after reading the above introduction, you already know what chest tightness and difficulty breathing are causing. From the above introduction, we can know that myocardial ischemia is the main cause of chest tightness and dyspnea. If it is confirmed to be caused by myocardial ischemia, timely treatment is required.