Pulmonary hypertension (PH) has no cure. However, you can work with your doctor to manage your symptoms and slow the progress of the disease.

Ongoing Care

Follow your treatment plan and call your doctor if your PH symptoms worsen or change. The earlier symptoms are addressed, the easier it is to treat them. Some symptoms, such as chest pain, may require emergency treatment. Talk to your doctor about when you should call him or her and when to seek emergency care.

Also, talk to your doctor before taking any over-the-counter medicines. Certain medicines can make your PH worse or interfere with the medicines you’re taking for PH. Ask your doctor whether you should get a pneumonia vaccine and a yearly flu shot.

Know the names of your medicines and how they work. Keep a list of your medicines with you. Don’t stop or change your medicines unless you talk with your doctor.

Pay careful attention to your weight. You may want to keep a daily record of your weight. You should weigh yourself at the same time each day. If you notice a rapid weight gain (2 or more pounds in 1 day or 5 or more pounds in 1 week), call your doctor. This may be a sign that your condition is worsening.

Pregnancy is risky for women who have PH. Consider using birth control if there’s a chance you may become pregnant. Talk to your doctor about which birth control methods are right for you.

Lifestyle Changes

Making lifestyle changes can help you manage your symptoms. These changes will depend on the type of PH you have. Talk to your doctor about which steps can help you.

Quit Smoking

If you smoke, quit. Smoking makes PH symptoms worse. Ask your doctor about programs and products that can help you quit. Also, avoid exposure to secondhand smoke.

Follow a Healthy Diet

Follow a healthy diet and maintain a healthy weight. A healthy diet includes a variety of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. It also includes lean meats, poultry, fish, and fat-free or low-fat milk or milk products. A healthy diet also is low in saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium (salt), and added sugar.

Talk to your doctor about whether you need to limit the amount of salt and fluids in your diet. Ask him or her whether you also need to regulate foods that contain vitamin K. These foods can affect how well blood-thinning medicines work. Vitamin K is found in green leafy vegetables and some oils, such as canola and soybean oil.

For more information on following a healthy diet, see the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s Aim for a Healthy Weight Web site, “Your Guide to a Healthy Heart,” and “Your Guide to Lowering Your Blood Pressure With DASH.”

All of these resources include general advice about healthy eating. The DASH eating plan focuses on foods that are lower in salt, which may be helpful if your doctor advises you to reduce the salt in your diet.

Do Physical Activity

Do regular physical activity, such as walking. This will keep your muscles strong and help you stay active. Talk to your doctor about how much activity is safe for you. Your doctor may tell you to limit or avoid certain activities, such as:

• Those that cause straining, such as lifting heavy objects or weights.

• Being in a hot
  tub or sauna or taking long baths. These activities can lower your blood pressure too much.

• Flying in an airplane or traveling to high-altitude areas. Your doctor may ask you to use oxygen during air travel.

Avoid activities that cause breathing problems, dizziness, or chest pain. If you have any of these symptoms, seek care right away.

Key Points

• Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is increased pressure in the pulmonary arteries. These arteries carry blood from your heart to your lungs to pick up oxygen.

• Three types of changes can affect the pulmonary arteries and can cause PH: the walls of the arteries tighten, the walls of the arteries are stiff at birth or become stiff from an overgrowth of cells, or blood clots form in the arteries.

• These changes make it hard for the heart to push blood through the arteries and into the lungs. Thus, the pressure in the arteries rises. Also, as a result of the heart working harder, the right ventricle becomes strained and weak.

• The heart may become so weak that it can’t pump enough blood to the lungs. This causes heart failure. Heart failure is the most common cause of death in people who have PH.

• PH is divided into five groups based on its causes. In all groups, the average pressure in the pulmonary artery is higher than 25 mmHg at rest or 30 mmHg during physical activity. The pressure in a normal pulmonary artery is about 15 mmHg at rest.

• Usually, other diseases or conditions, such as heart and lung diseases or blood clots, cause PH. Some people inherit the condition. In some cases, the cause isn’t known.

• The exact number of people who have PH isn’t known. Group 1 pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) without a known cause is rare. PH that occurs with another disease or condition is more common.

• PH causes symptoms such as shortness of breath during routine activity (for example, climbing two flights of stairs), tiredness, chest pain, and a racing heartbeat. As the disease worsens, its symptoms may limit all physical activity.

• Your doctor will diagnose PH based on your medical and family histories, a physical exam, and the results from tests and procedures. PH can develop slowly. In fact, you may have it for years and not know it. This is because the disease has no early symptoms. When symptoms do develop, they’re often like those of other heart and lung conditions, such as asthma. This makes PH hard to diagnose.

• PH has no cure, but treatments may help relieve symptoms and slow the progress of the disease. PH is treated with medicines, procedures, and other therapies. Treatment will depend on what type of PH you have and how severe it is. The earlier PH is treated, the easier it is to control.

• You can work with your doctor to manage your symptoms and slow the progress of PH. Get ongoing care. Follow your treatment plan and call your doctor if your symptoms worsen or change. Make lifestyle changes, such as eating healthy, quitting smoking, and doing regular physical activity.

• Research on new treatments for PH is ongoing. These treatments offer hope for the future. Talk to your doctor about whether you should consider participating in research studies.