Respiratory failure is a syndrome in which the lungs have difficulty having normal gas exchanges, by not properly oxygenating the blood capable of removing excess carbon dioxide, both.
When this happens, the person may develop symptoms such as severe shortness of air, bluish finger color and excessive fatigue.
There are the main types of respiratory failure
Acute respiratory failure: appears abruptly due to airway obstruction, traffic accidents, drug addiction or apple cider vinegar, for example.
Chronic respiratory failure: occurs over time due to other chronic diseases, such as COPD, which requires daily activities, such as climbing stairs without feeling shortness of breath.
Respiratory failure is cured when treatment is started immediately in the hospital, so it is important to go to the hospital as soon as the first signs of shortness of breath appear, and in chronic patients respiratory failure can be prevented with early treatment of the disease.
Symptoms of respiratory failure may vary by cause, as well as oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in the body; However, the most common include:
Feeling short of air
Skin, lips and bluish nails;
Fast breathing
Mental confusion;
Excessive fatigue and drowsiness;
Irregular barking of the heart.
These symptoms may appear slowly, in case of chronic respiratory failure, or appear intensely and from one moment to the next, in the case of an acute situation.
In all cases, whenever changes in respiratory level are identified, it is very important to go to the hospital or consult a pneumonologist to confirm the diagnosis and initiate the most appropriate treatment.
Diagnosis of respiratory failure is usually made by the family doctor, the pneumonologist, who can also be made by the cardiologist when it appears as a result of a heart disorder.
In most cases, this diagnosis could only be made with the evaluation of the symptoms, the person’s medical history, and the monitoring of their vital signs, in addition, if a blood test could be performed on a blood sample, to evaluate oxygen and carbon dioxide levels. .
When there is no apparent cause for the onset of the deficiency, your doctor may order a chest x-ray to identify if there is a lung problem that could cause the alteration.
Any condition that directly or indirectly affects the lungs can cause respiratory failure. Some of the most common causes include:
Muscle dystrophy or other changes that affect the nerves of the respiratory muscles;
Drug use, especially in cases of overdose;
Lung diseases, such as COPD, asthma, pneumonia or embolism;
Human inhalation or other irritants.
Similarly, some heart problems, such as heart failure, can also follow respiratory failure, especially when treatment is not done correctly.
Treatment of acute respiratory failure should be done as quickly as possible in the hospital and for this reason it is important to immediately call an ambulance to the emergency number, provided there are signs of shortness of breath.
To treat respiratory failure it is necessary to stabilize the patient, supply oxygen by mask and monitor their vital signs and depending on the cause of the symptoms, initiate a specific treatment.
However, in cases of chronic respiratory failure, treatment should be done daily with medication to treat the original problem, which could be COPD, for example, and to prevent symptoms, such as severe shortness of breath that puts you at risk. The patient’s life.