5th May World Pulmonary Hypertension Day

• What is Pulmonary Hypertension (PH) ?

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a rapidly progressive disease which affects the lungs and heart. It is characterized by high blood pressure in the arteries of the lungs. There are 5 main types of PH which affect patients in different ways, all of which can lead to heart failure and death.

• What are the symptoms?

PH is a personal condition and symptoms can vary in each individual, common symptoms may include:

Breathlessness
Blue lips
Fatigue

Educating people to recognize the symptoms of PH could save lives.

• Treatment

A range of pharmaceutical treatments are available but they only treat 1 of the 5 types of PH, called pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). There are currently 0 cures for 4 of the 5 forms of PH. The only potentially curative treatment available is surgery for 1 form of PH called thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH).

Some patients are eligible for lung or heart transplant, although this is not always possible due to lack of available organs, or patients not being suitable for surgery.

Accurate and early diagnosis and treatment followed by continuous treatment monitoring can mean the difference between life and death.

More research is needed to improve understanding of how all 5 types can be treated effectively.

• Who is affected?

It is thought that there are more than 25 million patients globally. One of the rare types of PH, called pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) affects approximately 52 people per million.

People of all ages, including children, can develop PH although it is most likely to be diagnosed in people between 40-50 years of age.

• The impact of PH

50% of patients die within two years if not treated. The death rate for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), the most studied form of PH, is higher than both breast or colorectal cancers. PH can have a profound impact on many aspects of daily life such as having difficultly climbing stairs or simply getting dressed.

• Time matters for people with PH

Diagnosis of PH takes approximately 2 years due to delay. Symptoms are often non-specific meaning PH is frequently mistaken for asthma or other conditions. PH is a rapidly progressive disease and time lost in it's progression cannot be entirely regained. With earlier diagnosis and treatment, survival and quality of life could be significantly improved.

Thank you for reading and I hope this has given you an insight into PH. Love, Erika *All information has been from the PHA Europe Website* http://www.phaeurope.org/

Out with the old and in with the new..

Hi guys, I bet you're all really impressed that I haven't waited weeks or months too write my next blog post!! Anyway, in my previous post I said that things were going to be changing and as you've probably all noticed by now the layout has completely changed and so has my theme. I've ditched the pink because I wanted a more classy look for my blog and I ditched the 'Tinkebellaaaaa' name. (I am not in any way saying that some one with a pink blog is not classy, all I'm saying is that as my knowledge of blogging has expanded I've noticed a few things and this style definitely fits better for me and my blog, in my own personal opinion my blog now seems seems more classy than the bright pink). STOP BABBLING ERIKA AND JUST GET ON WITH IT. Anyway, at the time the pink and the name 'Tinkerbellaaaaa' worked for me because I had just started out with blogging and had pretty much no idea what I was doing, but as I've grown up and my blogging has expanded I have actually ended up not liking the name 'Tinkerbellaaaaa', I still frigging love Tinkerbell though. Sooooooo to replace it I've named my blog C'est La Vie which is a French phrase for, 'That's Life'. Now this blog is mainly focused on my life living with PH so in my personal opinion it fits better for me and this blog, because this is MY life and that's how it's supposed too be; my disease is unavoidable and that's just life.
In my last post I also said that I've been doing a lot of research too do with blogging; something that popped up while I was doing research was having a signature at the end of all your posts. Now it wont work on previous posts but it will work on posts from the day I set it up which was today, now I've done it, I'm not quite sure on it, what does everyone else think? I think the writing is too big compared too the rest of my blog but I've tried too change it and I can't. What's everyone's opinions?   Thanks for reading guys and I can't wait too hear some of your opinions on my signature.
Love, Erika