Pulmonary hypertension is a kind of high blood pressure that affects the arteries in the lungs and right side of the heart. The small arteries in the lungs, called pulmonary arterioles, and capillaries become narrow, blocked, and damaged. It becomes difficult for blood to flow through the lungs, increasing pressure on these arteries. When this happens, the heart’s lower right chamber or right ventricle works overtime, which leads to weakening and failing of the heart muscles.

There are many causes and risk factors for pulmonary hypertension, including the following:

1. Symptoms and diagnosing pulmonary hypertension
Pulmonary hypertension is tough to diagnose and is usually detected through the symptoms, so it is essential to note the signs and see a doctor when they persist. The main symptom is shortness of breath when you are active. The other signs include chest pain, passing out, fatigue, and swelling in the legs and ankles. A doctor will conduct a physical examination and recommend an echocardiogram, CT scan, ventilation-perfusion scan, electrocardiogram, chest X-ray, and exercise testing on the treadmill.

2. Causes/risk factors for pulmonary hypertension
At times, doctors cannot find a reason for high blood pressure in the lungs. This condition is called idiopathic pulmonary hypertension. There are many causes/risk factors of pulmonary hypertension, and often, there is more than one factor that is involved.

Diseases that affect the blood flowing out of the heart to the rest of the body leads to backflow of blood, which can increase pulmonary venous pressures causing pulmonary hypertension.

Hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction is one of the major causes/risk factors for pulmonary hypertension, wherein the lung vessels become narrow to divert blood from the badly working segments of the lung. As an example, when you get pneumonia, a part of the lung gets inflamed and does not perform the functions of the lung properly. This diverts the blood from the poorly working areas and sends it to better functioning lung tissue. However, when the blood has a low oxygen level (hypoxia), there is a constriction of the vessels on the pulmonary arterial part, and that increases the pressure.

One of the leading causes/risk factors for pulmonary hypertension is the remodeling of blood vessels due to certain diseases. In this condition, the inner lining (lumen) of the vessel becomes narrows due to improper tissue growth within and around the vessel. Also, massing and scarring from other diseases can narrow and compress vessels, which increases the blood flow resistance, and thereby, increases blood pressure.

Medicines are often the main causes/risk factors for pulmonary hypertension. For instance, the use of anti-obesity drugs like Fen-Phen can cause severe pulmonary hypertension.

At times, some diseases, such as liver failure, are also causes/risk factors for pulmonary hypertension. The bad functioning of the liver at times cannot clear some bio-chemicals, which becomes one of the causes/risk factors of pulmonary hypertension.

Pulmonary hypertension cannot be cured, but its symptoms can be controlled to slow its progression.