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What Causes Shortness Of Breath With Increased Blood Pressure?
Question: I am a 52 year old male and a I a competitive powerlifter, I am 6'1", 275 lbs. with a muscular build. Lately I have been and mostly when I go to bed and the first few hours in the morning, I've been experiencing shortness of breath to the point that I don't sleep well. My blood pressure has gone up, I started taking some old medicine and it has dropped it to about 150/90. Any suggestions? Would losing weight help this go away?
Thanks!
XXXX
Thanks!
XXXX
Brief Answer:
May be; blood pressure lowering medication
Detailed Answer:
Hello, Mr. XXXX! Thank you for your question and welcome to HCM. I carefully read your query.
Well, I have seen, in my experience, that people who have performed sports, highly trained athletes, or people with constant vigorous physical activity during life, are more prone to high blood pressure and cardiovascular problems. This may probably be because of the high workload that heart had to overcome, for a long time. Yes, losing weight helps. But, now, it is important to control the blood pressure and, according to your age of 52 years old, to keep it under 140/90 mmHg. I would recommend you to first discuss with your treating cardiologist about the possibility of adding any other drug to your therapy and/or modifying dosage and frequency of taking, for a better blood pressure control.
Also, this age enters the category of risk factor for cardiovascular disorders, in male population. Therefore, I would suggest you to do an EKG - to assess the heart electrical and conduction systems in resting state, and echocardiogram - to assess the function of heart muscle and valves, and the effect of high blood pressure to the heart muscle, so far. Also, to see if there is any cardiac cause of your shortness of breath. Based on the results, further tests may be warranted. But, for now, I think this would suffice. Not cardiological, I would also recommend a plain chest X-ray.
I hope I was helpful with my answer. I am happy to help, if you have further questions. Please rate the answer, if you do not. Wish you a good health.
Kind regards,
Dr. Meriton
May be; blood pressure lowering medication
Detailed Answer:
Hello, Mr. XXXX! Thank you for your question and welcome to HCM. I carefully read your query.
Well, I have seen, in my experience, that people who have performed sports, highly trained athletes, or people with constant vigorous physical activity during life, are more prone to high blood pressure and cardiovascular problems. This may probably be because of the high workload that heart had to overcome, for a long time. Yes, losing weight helps. But, now, it is important to control the blood pressure and, according to your age of 52 years old, to keep it under 140/90 mmHg. I would recommend you to first discuss with your treating cardiologist about the possibility of adding any other drug to your therapy and/or modifying dosage and frequency of taking, for a better blood pressure control.
Also, this age enters the category of risk factor for cardiovascular disorders, in male population. Therefore, I would suggest you to do an EKG - to assess the heart electrical and conduction systems in resting state, and echocardiogram - to assess the function of heart muscle and valves, and the effect of high blood pressure to the heart muscle, so far. Also, to see if there is any cardiac cause of your shortness of breath. Based on the results, further tests may be warranted. But, for now, I think this would suffice. Not cardiological, I would also recommend a plain chest X-ray.
I hope I was helpful with my answer. I am happy to help, if you have further questions. Please rate the answer, if you do not. Wish you a good health.
Kind regards,
Dr. Meriton
Note: For further queries related to coronary artery disease and prevention, click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Prasad
Answered by
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