Looks like a tad bit of good news regarding stem cells and PH...click below to see article.
Stem Cells
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
World Health Organzation Functional Assessment of Patients with Pulmonary Hypertension
When diagnosed, you will be assigned a WHO functional class. Below is how each class is determined. Through out your treatment, you may switch functional classes numerous times.
Class I:
Patients with pulmonary hypertension but without resulting limitation of physical activity. Ordinary physical activity does not cause undue dyspnea or fatigue, chest pain or near syncope.
Class II:
Patients with pulmonary hypertension resulting in slight limitation of physical activity. These patients are comfortable at rest, but ordinary physical activity causes undue dyspnea or fatigue, chest pain or near syncope.
Class III:
Patients with pulmonary hypertension resulting in marked limitation of physical activity. These patients are comfortable at rest, but less than ordinary physical activity causes undue dyspnea or fatigue, chest pain or near syncope.
Class IV:
Patients with pulmonary hypertension resulting in inability to perform any physical activity without symptoms. These patients manifest signs of right heart failure. Dyspnea and/or fatigue may be present at rest, and discomfort is increased by any physical activity.
Class I:
Patients with pulmonary hypertension but without resulting limitation of physical activity. Ordinary physical activity does not cause undue dyspnea or fatigue, chest pain or near syncope.
Class II:
Patients with pulmonary hypertension resulting in slight limitation of physical activity. These patients are comfortable at rest, but ordinary physical activity causes undue dyspnea or fatigue, chest pain or near syncope.
Class III:
Patients with pulmonary hypertension resulting in marked limitation of physical activity. These patients are comfortable at rest, but less than ordinary physical activity causes undue dyspnea or fatigue, chest pain or near syncope.
Class IV:
Patients with pulmonary hypertension resulting in inability to perform any physical activity without symptoms. These patients manifest signs of right heart failure. Dyspnea and/or fatigue may be present at rest, and discomfort is increased by any physical activity.
World Health Organization (WHO) Diagnostic Classification of Pulmonary Hypertension
Below is a breakdown of WHO Classification by types of Pulmonary Hypertension.
Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
Primary Pulmonary Hypertension
Sporadic disorder
Familial disorder
Related conditions
--Collagen vascular disease
--Congenital systemic-to-pulmonary shunt
--Portal hypertension
--Human immunodeficiency virus infection
--Drugs and toxins
--Anorectic agents (appetite suppressants)
--Others
Persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn
Others
Pulmonary venous hypertension
Left-sided atrial or ventricular heart disease
Left-sided valvular heart disease
Extrinsic compression of central pulmonary veins
--Fibrosing mediastinitis
--Adenopathy and/or tumors
Pulmonary veno-occlusive disease
Others
Pulmonary hypertension associated with disorders of the respiratory system and/or hypoxemia
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Interstitial lung disease
Sleep-disordered breathing
Alveolar hypoventilation disorders
Chronic exposure to high altitudes
Neonatal lung disease
Alveolar-capillary dysplasia
Others
Pulmonary hypertension resulting from chronic thrombotic and/or embolic disease
Thromboembolic obstruction of proximal pulmonary arteries
Obstruction of distal pulmonary arteries
--Pulmonary embolism (thrombus, tumor, ova and/or parasites, foreign material)
--In-situ thrombosis
--Sickle cell disease
Pulmonary hypertension resulting from disorders directly affecting the pulmonary vasculature
Inflammatory conditions
--Schistosomiasis
--Sarcoidosis
--Others
Pulmonary capillary hemangiomatosis
What is Pulmonary Hypertension?
You have just been diagnosed with Pulmonary Hypertension (PH) but you don't know what it is exactly and your scared. You doctor has most likely told you that this disease is progressive and there is no cure at the moment. Now what? What was the doctor saying I had again? Check out below for further clarification on what PH is....
What is PH?
Pulmonary hypertension is a rare blood vessel disorder of the lung in which the pressure in the pulmonary artery (the blood vessel that leads from the heart to the lungs) rises above normal levels and may become life threatening.
What are the symptoms?
Symptoms of pulmonary hypertension include shortness of breath with minimal exertion, fatigue, chest pain, dizzy spells and fainting.
What kinds of PH are out there?
Idiopathic Pulmonary Hypertension (Formally known as Primary Pulmonary Hypertension)
When pulmonary hypertension occurs in the absence of a known cause, it is referred to as idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH). This term should not be construed to mean that because it has a single name it is a single disease. There are likely many unknown causes of IPAH. IPAH is extremely rare, occurring in about two persons per million population per year.
Secondary Pulmonary Hypertension
Secondary pulmonary hypertension means the cause is known. A common cause of secondary PH are the breathing disorders emphysema and bronchitis. Other less frequent causes are the inflammatory or collagen vascular diseases such as scleroderma, CREST syndrome or systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Congenital heart diseases that cause shunting of extra blood through the lungs like ventricular and atrial septal defects, chronic pulmonary thromboembolism (old blood clots in the pulmonary artery), HIV infection, liver disease and diet drugs like fenfluramine and dexfenfluramine are also causes of pulmonary hypertension.
Diagnosis and Rates of Survival
Pulmonary hypertension is frequently misdiagnosed and has often progressed to late stage by the time it is accurately diagnosed. Pulmonary hypertension has been historically chronic and incurable with a poor survival rate. However, new treatments are available which have significantly improved prognosis. Recent data indicate that the length of survival is continuing to improve, with some patients able to manage the disorder for 15 to 20 years or longer.
Information provided from PHA (Pulmonary Hypertension Association)
What is PH?
Pulmonary hypertension is a rare blood vessel disorder of the lung in which the pressure in the pulmonary artery (the blood vessel that leads from the heart to the lungs) rises above normal levels and may become life threatening.
What are the symptoms?
Symptoms of pulmonary hypertension include shortness of breath with minimal exertion, fatigue, chest pain, dizzy spells and fainting.
What kinds of PH are out there?
Idiopathic Pulmonary Hypertension (Formally known as Primary Pulmonary Hypertension)
When pulmonary hypertension occurs in the absence of a known cause, it is referred to as idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH). This term should not be construed to mean that because it has a single name it is a single disease. There are likely many unknown causes of IPAH. IPAH is extremely rare, occurring in about two persons per million population per year.
Secondary Pulmonary Hypertension
Secondary pulmonary hypertension means the cause is known. A common cause of secondary PH are the breathing disorders emphysema and bronchitis. Other less frequent causes are the inflammatory or collagen vascular diseases such as scleroderma, CREST syndrome or systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Congenital heart diseases that cause shunting of extra blood through the lungs like ventricular and atrial septal defects, chronic pulmonary thromboembolism (old blood clots in the pulmonary artery), HIV infection, liver disease and diet drugs like fenfluramine and dexfenfluramine are also causes of pulmonary hypertension.
Diagnosis and Rates of Survival
Pulmonary hypertension is frequently misdiagnosed and has often progressed to late stage by the time it is accurately diagnosed. Pulmonary hypertension has been historically chronic and incurable with a poor survival rate. However, new treatments are available which have significantly improved prognosis. Recent data indicate that the length of survival is continuing to improve, with some patients able to manage the disorder for 15 to 20 years or longer.
Information provided from PHA (Pulmonary Hypertension Association)
Welcome to Pulmonary Hypertension: PHighting for a Cure Blog!
Welcome to the Pulmonary Hypertension: PHighting for a Cure blog! My name is Lindsay and I will be your editor.
I live in Southern California and have had Pulmonary Hypertension (PH) for 5 years. I was diagnosed with WHO Class Four, Primary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) 4 years ago and was immediately put on Flolan, Revatio, Lasix, Potassium, Digoxin, then onto I.V. Remodulin (lets just say have done a round or two in the PH medication buffet line).
In this blog you will find tidbits of information regarding PH from articles to studies, as well as from websites, books, etc. I will try to post anything I can find out. There are not many of us PHer's out in the World, but everyday we are gaining new PHriends that have either been newly diagnosed or have finally been correctly diagnosed after years of searching for answers.
Feel free to read or comment on this blog at anytime. I welcome anyone to leave their thoughts, comments, or suggestions regarding this blog...whether they be good or bad. I can't promise that I will always keep it updated but I will try my best to have the latest information regarding PH on this blog.
Please remember that this blog is for us. It's a resource for people who are looking for direction, inspiration, motivation, information or even a guiding hand (this is not a place to whine or complain). Thanks!
Also, if you think you have PH and are not officially diagnosed, please contact a PH specialist for information regarding diagnosis.
*Disclaimer: Please note that all information in this blog is not certified medical advice from a medical profession. All names, pictures, images are used with permission and are not to be duplicated without permission from the author of this blog.
I live in Southern California and have had Pulmonary Hypertension (PH) for 5 years. I was diagnosed with WHO Class Four, Primary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) 4 years ago and was immediately put on Flolan, Revatio, Lasix, Potassium, Digoxin, then onto I.V. Remodulin (lets just say have done a round or two in the PH medication buffet line).
In this blog you will find tidbits of information regarding PH from articles to studies, as well as from websites, books, etc. I will try to post anything I can find out. There are not many of us PHer's out in the World, but everyday we are gaining new PHriends that have either been newly diagnosed or have finally been correctly diagnosed after years of searching for answers.
Feel free to read or comment on this blog at anytime. I welcome anyone to leave their thoughts, comments, or suggestions regarding this blog...whether they be good or bad. I can't promise that I will always keep it updated but I will try my best to have the latest information regarding PH on this blog.
Please remember that this blog is for us. It's a resource for people who are looking for direction, inspiration, motivation, information or even a guiding hand (this is not a place to whine or complain). Thanks!
Also, if you think you have PH and are not officially diagnosed, please contact a PH specialist for information regarding diagnosis.
*Disclaimer: Please note that all information in this blog is not certified medical advice from a medical profession. All names, pictures, images are used with permission and are not to be duplicated without permission from the author of this blog.
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