Pulmonary edema is a disease in which fluid appears and accumulates in organs. In the lung, such a process most often occurs due to the fact that too much pressure is formed in the vessels. In addition, fluid in the lung often accumulates as a result of the fact that there is simply not enough protein in the blood, or enough water is not retained in it.
The term "pulmonary edema" began to be used by specialists many years ago. In general, this expression combines a huge complex of symptoms that are characteristic of such a disease. Fluid in the lung accumulates due to the fact that it simply does not stay within the so-called bloodstream. It should be noted that the structural unit of the organ itself is the alveolus, which is firmly bonded to other, similar to it thin-walled sacs with a network of capillaries. Between these same alveoli, an important process for each organism called gas exchange occurs. As a result, vital oxygen enters the bloodstream, and carbon dioxide enters the lung. In addition to all this, it should be noted that a similar kind of process occurs between lung cells rather quickly, since the walls of the alveoli are very thin. However, this factor most often becomes decisive. The thing is that the thin walls of the lung cells contribute to their damage and, as a result, the accumulation of fluid in the organs of the respiratory system.
Fluid in the lung or, as the disease is commonly called, pulmonary edema occurs when the so-called alveoli are not filled with air. Instead of gas, a large amount of liquid accumulates in them, which quickly seeps into the organs from the blood vessels. What happens as a result? Most often, a person has serious problems with breathing, gas exchange. Oxygen starvation or hypoxia is also considered a symptom of pulmonary edema. Quite often, specialists indicate in the patient’s card a diagnosis that sounds like “Water in the lungs”. Treatment in this case involves the mandatory normalization of pressure directly in the vessels themselves. In addition, such therapy will be aimed at correcting all the disorders that led to the destruction of the walls of the alveoli, reduce the load on them, and much more. Quite often, the patient is injected with nitroglycerin intravenously until the pressure stabilizes.
Pulmonary fluid congestion can be caused by several factors. For example, a person may experience a violation of the functions of one of the most important organs - the heart. Valvular defects of this organ, heart attacks, heart muscle diseases and much more lead to the fact that fluid accumulates in the lung. In addition to the foregoing, such a disease is often caused by the so-called distress syndrome. ARDS is a very dangerous condition for the human body. It is most often caused either by damage to the lung itself, or by a severe systemic infection. This list can include poisoning with toxins, radiation damage to organs or severe pulmonary infections. As a rule, with distress syndrome, destruction and violation of the integrity of the walls of the alveoli are observed. As a result, they then get into the liquid, which leads to pulmonary edema.
Another cause of lung dysfunction is renal failure. The fact is that it is these organs that are responsible for the removal of excess fluid from the body. If this does not happen, the pressure in the vessels rises, since the volume of blood circulating constantly, simply simply increases significantly. If this is precisely what causes the stagnation of fluid in the lungs, the patient is primarily given dialysis.