What are the symptoms of pulmonary heart disease in the aged people

Elderly pulmonary heart disease is a relatively common type of disease in clinic. Mainly due to chronic lung disease, pulmonary artery blood vessels or thoracic lesions caused by abnormal lung tissue structure and function, resulting in pulmonary vascular resistance increased pulmonary hypertension formation, so that right heart dilated hypertrophy with or without right heart failure heart disease.

The course of the disease progresses slowly, and can be divided into two stages of compensation and decompensation, but the limit sometimes unclear.

(1) Patients with functional compensation have a history of chronic cough, sputum, or asthma, and gradually develop fatigue and difficulty breathing. Physical examination showed obvious emphysema, including barrel chest, excessive percussion in lung percussion, decreased upper limit of liver dullness, and reduced or even disappeared heart dullness. Breath sounds are low on auscultation, with wet and dry rales and light heart sounds, sometimes only under the xiphoid process. Pulmonary artery area hyperextension, obvious heart beat under the xiphoid process of the upper abdomen, is the main manifestation of the disease involving the heart. The jugular vein may be slightly dilated, but the venous pressure does not increase significantly.

The early manifestations of chronic pulmonary heart disease are long-term coughing, sputum production, and varying degrees of dyspnea, especially after exercise or during the cold season. In the early stage of cor pulmonale, the cardiopulmonary function is in the stage of tasting, the patient has no specific symptoms, and the patient can have no symptoms when quiet, so the disease is not easy to attract people's attention. However, as long as the following conditions occur, it often prompts that you already have pulmonary heart disease:
①Cough and sputum repeatedly for a long time.

②When the cold season gets worse, the cough gets worse, the phlegm increases, becomes thicker or yellow.

③ When you are slightly active, such as going up stairs or brisk walking, you may feel shortness of breath, shortness of breath, palpitations, pain in the precordial area, fatigue, chest tightness and other symptoms. You can improve after rest.

④ The fingertips, lips and surroundings are bluish purple.

⑤Heart rate increases, arrhythmia

(2) Damage to the lung tissue during the decompensation stage causes severe hypoxia and carbon dioxide retention, which can lead to respiratory and / or heart failure.

1. The early manifestations of respiratory failure and hypoxia are mainly cyanosis, palpitations, and chest tightness. Hypoxemia and hypercapnia occur when the disease further develops. Various symptoms of mental and neurological disorders can occur, called pulmonary encephalopathy. Manifested as headache, head bloating, restlessness, language barrier, and hallucinations, confusion, convulsions or tremors.

2. Heart failure mostly occurs after acute respiratory tract infection, so it is often complicated by respiratory failure. The patient develops symptoms of right heart failure such as asthma, palpitations, oliguria, cyanosis, upper abdominal distension, loss of appetite, nausea and even vomiting. Physical examination revealed jugular vein dilatation, increased heart rate, premature heart audible galloping rhythm, or systolic murmur caused by relative tricuspid insufficiency. The murmur can disappear as the condition improves. A variety of arrhythmias can occur, especially atrial arrhythmias, hepatomegaly with tenderness, positive signs of hepatic neck reflex, edema and ascites. Shock can occur in severe cases.

In addition, since Pulmonary Heart Disease is a disease in which multiple organs are damaged based on heart and lung lesions, severely ill patients may have renal insufficiency, disseminated intravascular coagulation, and cheek pigmentation due to hypoadrenal function which performed.

The above are the symptoms of the elderly pulmonary heart disease. If the aged people at home have the above symptoms, quickly take the patient to the hospital for treatment. It is necessary to pay attention to some predisposing factors, such as infection or cold, which may aggravate the original disease, and long-term oxygen therapy, that is, oxygen inhalation. Elderly patients may require long-term oxygen inhalation, which does not require high flow rate. Can improve the body's hypoxic state and relieve the progress of pulmonary heart disease. Special reminder: For severely ill patients or special patients, oxygen therapy should be very professional, and   must be guidance by a professional physician.