Pulmonary hypertension, also called pulmonary arterial hypertension, is high blood pressure that affects your lungs and the right side of your heart. If it is not treated, it can lead to right heart failure. It is a chronic, life-changing disease that affects people of all ages, races and ethnic backgrounds. There is currently no cure for pulmonary hypertension (PH), but there are treatment options that help people manage the disease.

Symptoms and Complications

There are several different types of pulmonary hypertension, but the symptoms for all of them are similar. These symptoms tend to be more severe as the disease progresses. The symptoms of pulmonary hypertension include:

* Breathlessness

* Angina pectoris (chest pain)

* Dizziness

* Syncope (fainting)

* Loss of energy

* Edema (swelling of the arms, legs or abdomen)

* Dry cough

* Raynaud’s phenomenon

As the disease gets worse, other symptoms may appear, including irregular heartbeat, racing pulse, difficulty breathing even at rest and passing out.

In pulmonary arterial hypertension, the heart has to work harder to push blood through the arteries and into the lungs, eventually causing the heart to enlarge and become less flexible, a form of heart failure.

Types of Pulmonary Hypertension

The major types of PH are:

* Heritable PAH, formerly called genetic PAH. It is inherited, and is uncommon.

* Associated pulmonary hypertension is PH, associated with other diseases, such asscleroderma, congenital heart disease, chronic liver disease, HIV, drugs or toxins.

* Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) is caused by old blood clots in the lungs.

Risk Factors and Causes

In many cases, there is no known cause for pulmonary hypertension. In some cases, it is associated with another condition or disease that damages the arteries and lung tissue. Risk factors for pulmonary hypertension include family history, obesity combined with sleep apnea and pregnancy. In addition, idiopathic PH (pulmonary hypertension without a known cause) and familial hypertension is more than twice as common in women as in men. People who live for years at high altitudes are more likely to develop pulmonary hypertension, and people with PH are more likely to experience symptoms when they travel to high-altitude location. Other diseases, such as congenital heart disease, lung disease, liver disease, connective tissue diseases and AIDS, can lead to the development of pulmonary hypertension, as can certain drugs, particularly stimulant drugs like methamphetamines and the diet drug fen phen.

Treatments

There is no cure for pulmonary hypertension, but there are a number of treatments that can help people with pulmonary hypertension live more comfortably and maintain more of their lung and heart function. The treatment options include medications, surgery and alternative treatment options. There is also a great deal of research ongoing into the use of stem cells to treat pulmonary hypertension and other lung diseases and disorders.