Laboured breathing can have its origin in the cardiac region. Since there is a close relation between heart and lung functioning,-the symptoms quite often overlap. Short breath is a consequence of congested lungs when expansion is difficult. The malady is also termed as ‘effort onset dyspnoea’ which implies that even a slight effort/labour, walking faster, scaling stairs, running, fast speech etc. trigger the problem. Dyspnoea can also occur in severe anaemia or diabetes (especially in ketoacidosis).
Limitation of breath can be described in many ways which vary from disease to disease. In Uraemic coma also dyspnoea surfaces, asthma, bronchitis, nasal obstruction, obstruction of blood vessels due to cholesterol deposition and/or hardening thereof, some extra physical effort, airway obstruction or due to accumulation of sputum therein which is difficult to expectorate.
Causative factor will often point as to which organ, heart or respiratory system, is at fault-when heart is the affected organ there is chest pain, sweating, nausea, palpitation or orthopnoea (a state of breathlessness that prevents the patient from lying down so that he prefers to sit in a chair or to sleep propped up in bed) but, when respiratory apparatus is involved, there is cough, wheeze, haemoptysis etc.
In the latter stage pattern of breathing, respiratory rate, position of trachea, breath sounds on each side of chest, crepitations etc. should be taken into view. When children are the victims extra caution is called for, because effects of certain factors cannot be detected through X-ray. Problem and its cause is more difficult to locate in a toddler who himself cannot relate his problem. Removal of basic cause will itself be sufficient to lead to cure.
No medicine can or should be given unless the organ, at fault, and cause have been isolated and established beyond doubt. 500 mg Vitamin-C tablet (once a day) will help to build up general resistance of body.
In Homeopathy, Crataegus-Q (3-5 drop doses in water, thrice daily or may be increased to even 15-30 drops per dose) is an excellent curative and corrective medicine. A dose of Arsenic Album 30, can also allay the symptom(s); other medicines can also be taken as per patient’s individual symptoms. Normal respiration can also be restored by resorting to Pranayama and open air exercises. Main effort should be directed towards general improvement of health and building up of proper and requisite defence machenism and resistance to withstand the onslaught of leading symptoms.
Smoking and wrong eating pattern can also cause dyspnoea. Certain foodstuffs, exercises, weather changes, grass pollens, accumulation of sputum, various allergens etc. are the probable causes. The patient, quite often, is aware as to which allergen is responsible in causing onset of dyspnoea but, then, each case needs to be individualised properly. Dust, certain gases, fumes, industrial chemicals, environs also account for onset of dyspnoea.