Dr Sarah Jarvis Healthy lungs for life

You breathe over 17,000 times a day, every day – and every breath takes in life-giving oxygen. But like the rest of your body, your lungs can struggle without some tender loving care. Not breathing in cigarette smoke goes without saying – but air pollution can affect your breathing too. And if you’re allergic to pollen, hay fever season can leave you strugglingggg to breathe too. It’s time to take steps to keep your lungs in tip-top shape.

Air pollution is a concern where your lungs are concerned. But it’s definitely not a reason to shut yourself away for good. Where heart and lungs are concerned, it’s a question of “use it or lose it”. The less you exercise, the more out of shape your heart and lungs become – so the less exercise you’ll be able to do. However, it makes sense to ta ake precautions. For in nstance, you can easily fi ind out air pollution le evels with a Google search s for “Met office air a quality index”. Pollution P levels tend to be highest at night and in the early morning, so go out for your walk in the early-mid afternoon.

High pollen levels can contribute to breathlessness and wheeze, especially if you have asthma or COPD – a chronic lung condition usually, but not always, due to lung damage from smoking. Most sufferers are allergic to grass pollen: levels of this are highest in May to July. But if you’re sensitive to tree pollen, you may develop symptoms in March to May. If you’re taking inhalers, make sure you use them regularly.

There are lots of causes of breathlessness, and the most likely culprit often depends on other symptoms and how quickly your symptoms came on. For instance, if your symptoms come on suddenly (within hours or minutes), your doctor will consider:

Abnormal heart rhythms such as atrial fibrillation (AF) – this can stop blood being pumped effectively round the body, so you become short of oxygen and breathless. You may also notice palpitations and dizziness.

Anaemia – if severe, anaemia can also leave you breathless because of low oxygen levels.

Anxiety or panic attack – along with shortness of breath, you’ll often feel anxious, have palpitations, feel sick, trembly or sweaty and sometimes have a dry mouth.

Asthma attack – often brought on by allergies such as hay fever or by a cold, asthma symptoms make you wheezy

IF YOU SMOKE, QUITTING IS THE BIGGEST FAVOUR YOU CAN DO YOUR LUNGS – AND HEART. IT’S NEVER TOO LATE

and breathless. If your symptoms aren’t relieved by your “reliever” inhaler or you’re too breathless to speak, it’s a medical emergency.

Clot on the lung – the medical term for this is pulmonary embolus or PE. It usually comes from a vein deep inside your leg (a deep vein thrombosis or DVT) which breaks off and travels to your lung, where it lodges. You may, therefore, also have a red, painful, swollen calf. A PE can cause severe sharp chest pain which is worse when you breathe in, along with coughing up blood, shortness of breath and sometimes collapse.

Heart failure – your heart isn’t pumping efficiently, so fluid can build up in your lungs. Breathlessness is often worse if you lie flat and you can wake gasping for breath.

Pneumonia – usually accompanied by a fever and cough, you may cough up green, rust-coloured or bloodstained sputum and feel generally unwell.

If your breathlessness has come on more gradually, you may have COPD, especially if you’ve ever smoked. You can also have flare-ups of COPD, often due to infection, which can lead to rapid worsening of your symptoms.

Being overweight or unfit can also leave you feeling out of puff with minor exertion. If your asthma is well controlled, you shouldn’t feel breathless more easily than anyone else. But poorly controlled asthma can mean your airways are narrowed, reducing oxygen flow and causing wheeze and breathlessness.

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