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Shortness of Breath Linked to Heart Disease

Ronald Grisanti D.C., D.A.B.C.O., M.S.
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A new study reported in the November 2005 issue of New England Journal of Medicine has found people with shortness of breath have a higher chance of dying from heart disease than patients without any symptoms.

Daniel Berman, M.D., the lead author of the study and the Director of Cardiac Imaging at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, says that shortness of breath can forecast the fact that the patient has a chance of dying due to heart disease.

In addition, Dr. Berman commented that patients often do not interpret shortness of breath as a serious symptom, however, it may be the only sign of the presence of serious coronary artery disease.

How the Study was Conducted

17,991 patients were divided into five categories on the basis of symptoms at presentation (none, nonanginal chest pain, atypical angina, typical angina, and dyspnea).

Among patients with no known history of coronary artery disease, those with dyspnea (shortness of breath) had a quadrupled risk of dying from coronary artery disease and twice the risk as those who had the typical chest pain, but with a known history of heart disease.

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Reference Abidov A, Rozanski A, Hachamovitch R, Hayes SW, Aboul-Enein F, Cohen I, Friedman JD, Germano G, Berman DS.Prognostic significance of dyspnea in patients referred for cardiac stress testing. N Engl J Med. 2005 Nov 3;353(18):1889-98.

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