Breathing difficulty when not active can have various causes, ranging in severity from 'troubling' to 'generally fatal'. Finding the true cause means ruling out or confirming each possibility – in other words, diagnosis.
Diagnosis is usually a complex process due to the sheer number of possible causes and related symptoms. In order to diagnose breathing difficulty when not active, we could:
Cause | Probability | Status |
---|---|---|
Heart Disease | 91% | Confirm |
Milk Allergy | 23% | Unlikely |
Arrhythmias | 13% | Unlikely |
Pulmonary Embolism | 4% | Ruled out |
Asthma | 0% | Ruled out |
Ovarian Cancer | 0% | Ruled out |
Congestive Heart Failure | 0% | Ruled out |
Chronic Bronchitis | 0% | Ruled out |
If you ever experience shortness of breath when you are not physically active, how would you describe it?
Possible responses:
→ I am never breathless when at rest / don't know→ Occasional/mild breathlessness, not a big problem → Regular/moderate breathlessness, quite worrying → Serious sudden shortness of breath, very worrying |
Shortness of breath can occur with large ascites that causes pressure on the diaphragm and fluid around the lungs.
Congestive heart failure leads to reduced blood supply to the kidneys, which leads in turn reduced kidney function, and in turn excess fluid retention (edema). The lungs may become congested with fluid (pulmonary edema) and thus the ability to exercise is decreased.
The common symptoms of pneumonia include breathlessness.
The most important symptom of pulmonary embolism is breathlessness, which often occurs suddenly and for which there is no other explanation.