Cancer Might be Manifested by Short Breathing

Abstract

It is normally believed that the most causes of short breathing are due to heart and lung conditions, say asthma or allergic reactions or heart attack or low blood pressure or anemia or pneumonia or carbon monoxide poisoning or upper airway obstruction or blood clot in lungs; but chronic shortness of breath is most often due to asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, obesity, and lung diseases including the cancer of organ [1]. At this point the question arises, whether the chronic dyspnea (shortness of breath) is the symptom of lung cancer or might be its possible cause. However, it is found that people with advanced cancer (not only lung cancer) often get shortness of breath or dyspnea [2]. Therefore, the raised question is more generalized; whether chronic dyspnea is a cause or just a symptom of cancer. In other words, question arises, whether the dyspnea is the result of carcinogenic conditions in or cancer is caused by dyspnea state of the body. In 1986, Desigan et al. [3] tried to correlate progressive shortness of breath with manifestation of occult gastric cancer and stated that progressive shortness of breath may be the first or only manifestation of occult gastric cancer caused by either lymphangitic carcinomatosis or microscopic tumor emboli to the lungs. In this context, a further question arises, whether Desigan [3] statement might be generalized for various carcinogenic conditions in body. That means, might it be a true statement: progressive shortness of breath is the major manifestation of cancer or cancer is often manifested by progressive shortness of breath.