Similia Homoeo LaboratoryBlog Post

Pleural effusion demystified: all you need to know:

Have you ever felt breathlessness and difficulty in doing basic chores like tying your shoe laces or shortness of breath while walking or inability to take a deep breath?? Inspite of being active all along you may feel these symptoms of you have pleural effusion. Even simple tasks will become impossible for you because you could not breathe.

The accumulation of pleural fluid or fluid around the lung is a common problem that can occur in a number of diseases and conditions. The most common symptom associated with pleural fluid is shortness of breath. It is our goal to rapidly manage and effectively control this problem.

 Pleural effusion can rob you of your physical freedom making it difficult to do our minimal day today tasks.

Understanding pleural effusion: fluid in your lungs:

Pleural effusion, sometimes referred to as “water on the lungs,” is the build-up of excess fluid between the layers of the pleura outside the lungs. The pleura are thin membranes that line the lungs and the inside of the chest cavity and act to lubricate and facilitate breathing. Normally, a small amount of fluid is present in the pleura.

The seriousness of the condition depends on the primary cause of pleural effusion, whether breathing is affected, and whether it can be treated effectively. Causes of pleural effusion that can be effectively treated or controlled include an infection due to a virus, pneumonia or heart failure. Two factors that must be considered are treatment for associated mechanical problems as well as treatment of the underlying cause of the pleural effusion.

Types of pleural effusion:

The pleural space is essentially the region between the tissues that form the lining of the lungs and the chest cavity. The fluid that builds up in the pleural space may either be protein-rich (Exudative Pleural Effusions) or watery (Transudative Pleural Effusions) in nature, thus helping doctors ascertain the cause of the pleural effusion.

Exudative Pleural Effusions are often found to be triggered by medical conditions such as Cancer, Inflammatory diseases, Kidney disorder, Pneumonia, or Pulmonary embolism.

Transudative Pleural Effusions, on the other hand, maybe triggered by Cirrhosis, Heart Attack, and Pulmonary embolism. People undergoing open heart surgery are also susceptible to Transudative Pleural Effusions.

Unmasking the symptoms:

Some patients with pleural effusion have no symptoms, with the condition discovered on a chest x-ray that is performed for another reason. The patient may have unrelated symptoms due to the disease or condition that has caused the effusion.Symptoms of pleural effusion include:

• Chest pain
• Dry, nonproductive cough
• Dyspnea (shortness of breath, or difficult, laboured breathing)
• Orthopnea (the inability to breathe easily unless the person is sitting up straight or standing erect)

Factors causing pleural effusion:

Depending on the cause, the excess fluid may be either protein-poor (transudative) or protein-rich (exudative). These two categories help physicians determine the cause of the pleural effusion.

The most common causes of transudative (watery fluid) pleural effusions include:

1. Heart failure
   
2. Pulmonary embolism
3. Cirrhosis
4. Post open heart surgery

Exudative (protein-rich fluid) pleural effusions are most commonly caused by:

• Pneumonia
• Cancer
• Pulmonary embolism
• Kidney disease
• Inflammatory disease

Other less common causes of pleural effusion include:

1. Tuberculosis
   
2. Autoimmune disease
3. Bleeding (due to chest trauma)
4. Chylothorax (due to trauma)
5. Rare chest and abdominal infections
6. Asbestos pleural effusion (due to exposure to asbestos)
7. Meig’s syndrome (due to a benign ovarian tumor)
8. Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome

Certain medications, abdominal surgery and radiation therapy may also cause pleural effusions. Pleural effusion may occur with several types of cancer including lung cancer, breast cancer and lymphoma. In some cases, the fluid itself may be malignant (cancerous), or may be a direct result of chemotherapy.

Diagnosis for pleural effusion:

The tests most commonly used to diagnose and evaluate pleural effusion include:

• Chest x-ray
  
• Computed tomography (CT) scan of the chest
• Ultrasound of the chest
• Thoracentesis (a needle is inserted between the ribs to remove a biopsy, or sample of fluid)
• Pleural fluid analysis (an examination of the fluid removed from the pleura space)

Get rid of that wet whacky lungs effectively with homeopathy:

In allopathic mode of treatment where in case of pleural effusion it is mostly managed then treated, but in case of homeopathy it is cured with medicines without any draining of fluid , can be treated wonderfully and gently without piercing any needle

Homeopathy is one of the most popular holistic systems of medicine. The selection of remedy is based upon the theory of individualization and symptoms similarity by using holistic approach. This is the only way through which a state of complete health can be regained by removing all the sign and symptoms from which the patient is suffering. The aim of homeopathy is not only to treat pleural effusion but to address its underlying cause and individual susceptibility. As far as therapeutic medication is concerned, several remedies are available to treat pleural effusion that can be selected on the basis of cause, sensations and modalities of the complaints.

Blog prepared by Dr Noreen Naushad, Manufacturing Chemist, Similia India