Shortness of breath: Difficulty in breathing. Medically referred to as dyspnea. Shortness of breath can be caused by respiratory (breathing passages and lungs) or circulatory (heart and blood vessels) conditions and other conditions such as severe anemia or high fever. See also dyspnea.


 you're a healthy adult, you breathe in and out up to 20 times a minute. That's nearly 30,000 breaths a day. A hard workout or the common cold might throw a kink in that pattern from time to time, but you should almost never feel short of breath. 

Dyspnea Symptom


When you have dyspnea, you might feel:


• Out of breath
• Tightness in your chest
• Hungry for air (you might hear this called air hunger)
• Unable to breathe deeply
• Like you can’t breathe (suffocation)

It can be acute (sudden dyspnea) or chronic (long-lasting dyspnea). Acute dyspnea starts within a few minutes or hours. It can happen with other symptoms like a fever, rash, or cough. Chronic dyspnea can make you feel out of breath with everyday tasks, such as walking from room to room or standing up.

Sometimes, shortness of breath gets better or worse with certain body positions. For example, lying down flat can trigger shortness of breath in people who have certain types of heart and lung disease. Keeping track of your symptoms can help your doctor figure out what's wrong and recommend the best treatment.


Dyspnea Causes


Many conditions can cause shortness of breath. The most common causes of short-term dyspnea are:

• Anxiety disorders
• Asthma
• A blood clot in your lungs, known as pulmonary embolism
Broken ribs
• Excess fluid around your heart
Choking
• A collapsed lung 
• Heart attacks
• Heart failure
• Heart rhythm problems
• A low red blood cell count, also called anemia
• Pneumonia and other
• respiratory infections
• Pregnancy
• A severe allergic reaction known as anaphylaxis
• Sudden blood loss

• Fluid around the lungs
• Being out of shape
• Chronic obstructive
• pulmonary disease (COPD), including emphysema
• Sarcoidosis, a collection of inflammatory cells in the body
• Heart disease, including congestive heart failure
• Inflammation of the tissue around the heart
• High blood pressure in the lungs, also called pulmonary hypertension
• Obesity
• Scarring of the lungs
• Stiff, thick, or swollen
• heart muscle, aka 
• cardiomyopathy

Other things, including lung cancer and tuberculosis, can make you feel out of breath. If you have dyspnea and don't know why, see your doctor to find out.

When to See Your Doctor

Shortness of breath is not a symptom to ignore. Call your doctor if your symptoms change, if your problem gets worse after you use an inhaler, or if your shortness of breath comes along with:

• Swelling in your feet and ankles
• Trouble breathing when you lie flat
• High fever, chills, and cough
• An unusual whistling sound (wheezing) when you breathe
• A gasping sound when you breathe

When to Go to the ER

Call 911 or have someone take you to the emergency room if:

• You have severe shortness of breath that comes on suddenly.
• Your shortness of breath comes with chest pain, nausea, or fainting.
• Your lips or fingertips turn blue.

SOB causes