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What Causes Sudden Shortness Of Breath In An Obese Person?
Question is about my friend. He is 40, obese. Just 3 weeks ago he started having shortness of breath. While overweight he had no problems up until that point functioning (would work out on treadmills, lift light weights) The breathlessness episodes increased. He had previous fluid build up in is legs/feet and abdomen, and the shortness of breathe is likely fluid (ie: cardiac asthma). So far they are treating it as pre-asthmatic , but due to waking up in the night gasping for air, he is going to the doctor tomorrow to get his heart examined. It is likely congestive heart failure, my question is what his prognosis could be, in terms of years left and level of functioning,. He has/had been eating better and exercising prior and making great progress. How many years could he live, for example, would he be able to reach 70?, 60? 50? We are very worried and concerned. Thank you
Mon, 7 Mar 2016
HI, thanks for using healthcare magic
The prognosis depends on the heart function. His cardiologist will likely suggest an echo to take a look at how the heart is working.
This test will look at how the heart muscles are pumping, check to see if the chambers of the heart are filling and ejecting blood well to the rest of the body.
His overall prognosis would depend on the function and any problems seen.
There are also blood tests that can give an idea of heart function as well.
I hope this helps
The prognosis depends on the heart function. His cardiologist will likely suggest an echo to take a look at how the heart is working.
This test will look at how the heart muscles are pumping, check to see if the chambers of the heart are filling and ejecting blood well to the rest of the body.
His overall prognosis would depend on the function and any problems seen.
There are also blood tests that can give an idea of heart function as well.
I hope this helps
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