Intuitively, we associate rapid breathing with the state of excitation. It can be a reaction to a loved one, to pain, to stress. People breathe more often at physical and sports loads, at a fright and in a condition of a shock. Unfortunately, there are other causes of rapid breathing, mainly in their medical explanation.
What does rapid breathing mean during sleep?
Rapid breathing in a dream occurs in those situations when the cortex of the brain comes into a state of arousal. It can be caused by a fast phase of sleep and the emotional experience of a dream that is dreamed, or it may appear with certain health problems. In the first place - with the work of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. Due to impaired ventilation, or heart rhythm, a person makes a shallow breath. As a result, there is oxygen starvation and the body is trying to restore balance, the rhythm is breathing in and out. In the normal state, it is 5-15 cycles per minute, with tachypnea, the number of breaths per minute can reach 60. As a rule, the situation is normalized by itself, or the person wakes up. In this case, the further behavior depends on whether the breath has returned to the usual rhythm.
Causes of rapid breathing during wakefulness
A waking person can have many physiological causes for increased respiration, these are physical exertion, and psychoemotional states. Any pathology in this case is not present, treatment is not required also. But in a situation where breathing has become more frequent due to painful processes, it is extremely important to know the cause. It can be:
- ischemia and heart disease;
- myocardial infarction;
- thromboembolism of the pulmonary artery ;
- exudative pleurisy and pneumothorax of the lungs;
- spasm of bronchi;
- acute respiratory failure syndrome and pulmonary edema;
- bronchial asthma;
- hyperthyroidism ;
- anemia;
- fever.
Diagnosing each of these diseases is simple, if there are additional symptoms - pain, temperature changes, coughing and others. For example, fever and rapid breathing indicate a febrile state, or an acute infectious process in the lungs and bronchi. Coughing and rapid breathing - signs of asthma, pulmonary embolism, and in some cases - a heart attack. In general, heart diseases are often accompanied by a spasm in the respiratory system and a symptom that resembles a slight cough.