Pulmonary Hypertension: How to Treat It?

Being at high altitudes for prolonged period exposes you to oxygen-depleted air. This puts excessive pressure on your pulmonary arteries which in turn leads to the arteries being ruptured or being strained all the time. Many mountaineers and rock climbers have been diagnosed with this disorder as they spend extended amounts of time at high altitudes where the lungs also remain stressed. To treat this, relaxants and medications that encourage urination are usually prescribed.

Although pulmonary hypertension can be caused by lifestyle-related issues such as obesity, it may also be caused by other physiological factors which you may not have any direct control over. For example, certain tumors may end up growing inside the lungs which press against the arteries and end up causing constrictions. In these cases, the blockage in the arteries isn t caused by the narrowing of the arteries but due to the pressure from an external source. In such cases, surgery to remove the tumor is the only resolution to the problem.

The most common and dangerous symptoms of pulmonary hypertension are blood clots which may form within the arteries of the lungs due to obstructions in the pathways. This can cause hypertension to get worse and also put pressure on the heart. Even if the clot has existed only for a short length of time, this can cause a heart attack or put excessive pressure on the lungs resulting in functional problems as well. Specialist medications can be used for smaller clots but in case of more severe problems surgery may be required to remove those clots.

Pulmonary hypertension, if left untreated for a longer time period, may not only cause lung problems but also result in heart failure. There have been cases where long-standing pulmonary hypertension, which wasn t resolved, resulted in the requirement for double organ transplant as the lungs completely failed along with parts of the heart. Thus it is important that you resolve the issue by making lifestyle changes or medications and keep these under control.