In addition, it is worth a trip to the doctor’s, advised Dr Chew Si Yuan, a consultant with Singapore General Hospital’s Department of Respiratory And Critical Care Medicine, if you also have been experiencing:
- breathlessness when lying flat
- coughing for more than six to eight weeks
- prolonged sputum or phlegm
- coughing up blood
- wheezing or sounding hoarse
- chest tightness
- leg swelling
- unexplained appetite or weight loss
But before you jump to the conclusion you have tuberculosis (especially if you live in Bedok) or lung cancer (that nagging feeling is there for smokers), find out what the doctors say about breathlessness.
WHAT CAN CAUSE BREATHLESSNESS?
Simply getting older can leave you gasping like a fish out of water. “In most individuals, the lung function naturally declines with age, starting around the mid-20s,” said Gleneagles Hospital’s respiratory physician, Dr Kam Li Wei Michelle. “By the time most individuals are in their 60s, most would have lost between 20 per cent to 30 per cent of their peak lung function.”
On average, Dr Kam continued, healthy, non-smoking individuals lose approximately 30ml of their forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) per year. “FEV1 is a measurement, which shows the volume of air one can blow out of their lungs in the first second, after taking a maximal deep breath.”
The reason for that, explained Dr Ahmed, is that the muscles involved in breathing may weaken, and the airways, “slightly less efficient at clearing mucus and particles”. As a result, you may notice a “modest reduction in exercise tolerance compared to your younger years”. You may also require slightly more effort for the same physical activities, or a longer recovery time after exertion, he said.
