Pulmonary Embolism Can Be A Threat For People With Lung Disease!

Pulmonary embolism is very similar to a blood clot.

When an artery in your lung gets blocked, then the blood flow to the lung through that particular artery gets stopped with the blood flow and as a result you can experience sudden pain in your chest associated with shortness of breath.

These blood clots usually come from smaller blood vessels of your body like legs, arms, heart and even through pelvis.

When a blood clot is formed in your legs or arms, then it is referred as deep vein thrombosis (DVT).

What happens when you have a clot in the blood vessel?

This clot in the blood normally travels through the blood vessels of lungs and continues to reach smaller blood vessels of your body, until it gets stuck in the blood vessels, which are too small for the clot to allow it to proceed further. As a result, the clot gets stuck in your blood vessel and prevents the blood to flow into that particular section of your lungs.

When there is no flow of blood in any particular section of lung, that specific part of the lung suffers from infarction, which means the blood vessel dies or totally gets damaged as there is no flow of blood or oxygen through it. This condition of blood vessel is referred as pulmonary infarct.

Is there any difference between a blood clot and a pulmonary embolism?

Both the terms are very similar; an embolism refers to sudden blocking of your blood vessel which can be due to presence of air bubble or blood clot or any piece of fat in your blood vein.

Pulmonary embolism usually refers to blockage of an artery of your lung, which can be due to blood clot that has broken off from your leg or any other part and traveled to your lungs.

Some of the common changes in your health conditions due to pulmonary embolism include:

  • You can experience a rapid heart beat due to blockage of any blood vessel that carries blood and oxygen to your lungs.
  • Person affected with this kind of lung disease can suffer with sudden shortness of breath, even in rest or in active condition [Lung inflammation].
  • Experiencing bloody cough is also one of the common sign of damaged blood vessels in your body.