Fluid in the lungs can arise in a variety of circumstances and is very much a sign of disease rather than a diagnosis. Most commonly fluid accumulates on both lungs when the heart is failing to perform its task of pumping the blood around the body as well as it might, resulting in 'back-pressure' within the circulatory system.
This leads to increasing breathlessness, most noticeable when lying down, and patients often wake up at night breathless and coughing. The associated cough is productive of frothy white sputum that can sometimes be blood-stained and when the symptom is severe they gasp for breath, literally feeling as if they are drowning in their own secretions.
The conditions that have been shown to sometimes lead on to this clinical picture include high blood pressure, heart valve disease, heart attack, angina, irregular heartbeat, emphysema, cardiomyopathy, overactive thyroid gland and anaemia.
This leads to increasing breathlessness, most noticeable when lying down, and patients often wake up at night breathless and coughing. The associated cough is productive of frothy white sputum that can sometimes be blood-stained and when the symptom is severe they gasp for breath, literally feeling as if they are drowning in their own secretions.
The conditions that have been shown to sometimes lead on to this clinical picture include high blood pressure, heart valve disease, heart attack, angina, irregular heartbeat, emphysema, cardiomyopathy, overactive thyroid gland and anaemia.