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Breathlessness

Shortness of breath (breathlessness) is an unpleasant feeling. Breathing can be too hard, too fast, or just uncomfortable. It occurs when the lungs and chest muscles do not meet the body's oxygen needs.

Breathlessness can be due to a heart or lung problem such as:

• lung damage from smoking or exposure to dusts or chemicals

• asthma, emphysema, and airway obstruction

• restrictive diseases, such as fibrosis of the lungs

• lung cancer

• pneumonia and other infections

• a collapsed lung

• blood clots in the lung and

• poor blood supply to heart muscle

Other causes are:

• anemia

• choking

• extremely swollen tonsils

• an allergic reaction

• anxiety and

• brain tumor or stroke

Breathlessness can be related to factors not involving physical disorders. These include rapid breathing after hard exercise, the effects of high altitude, or simply the sensation of needing a breath.

Being short of breath is always scary. Breathlessness that persists requires medical evaluation.

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