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What Causes Heavy Breathing Symptoms And Leg Pain In An Elderly Person?

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Posted on Thu, 19 Jan 2017
Question: A 95 year old woman is breathing rapidly at rest about 50 to 60 times a minute,going on for a couple days. A couple days ago she was complaining about leg pain,but don,t know if those relate just guessing. What could this indicate? I should add that she may be dehydrated from a recent bout of diarrhea .
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Answered by Dr. Panagiotis Zografakis (1 hour later)
Brief Answer:
pulmonary embolism?

Detailed Answer:
Hello,

first of all this rapid respiratory rate may lead to fatigue of the respiratory muscles and respiratory insufficiency so the cause has to be corrected as soon as possible. The leg pain (and perhaps also swelling?) might have been caused by deep vein thrombosis (DVT) which later caused pulmonary embolism. Pulmonary embolism may cause a variety of symptoms and signs ranging from rapid heart and respiratory rate to syncope and death.

Other potential causes may include infections, hyperosmolar state (dehydration essentially), heart related catastrophic events, acidosis (the diarrhea may predispose to that) and central nervous system disorders. In any case immediate assessment by a doctor is required. Having this rate is very dangerous and cannot last for long.

Kind Regards!
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Answered by
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Dr. Panagiotis Zografakis

Internal Medicine Specialist

Practicing since :1999

Answered : 3816 Questions

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What Causes Heavy Breathing Symptoms And Leg Pain In An Elderly Person?

Brief Answer: pulmonary embolism? Detailed Answer: Hello, first of all this rapid respiratory rate may lead to fatigue of the respiratory muscles and respiratory insufficiency so the cause has to be corrected as soon as possible. The leg pain (and perhaps also swelling?) might have been caused by deep vein thrombosis (DVT) which later caused pulmonary embolism. Pulmonary embolism may cause a variety of symptoms and signs ranging from rapid heart and respiratory rate to syncope and death. Other potential causes may include infections, hyperosmolar state (dehydration essentially), heart related catastrophic events, acidosis (the diarrhea may predispose to that) and central nervous system disorders. In any case immediate assessment by a doctor is required. Having this rate is very dangerous and cannot last for long. Kind Regards!