Pulmonary arterial hypertension or PAH is not a common disease that people are aware of readily although it affects perhaps close to 800,000 people in the USA at least those that are diagnosed. Women are more at risk than men for this disease. A mutation in the BMPR2 gene is said to cause PAH.
What happens is that the pulmonary artery, which carries blood from the heart to the lungs, is affected by hypertension. This latter happens because the small arteries in the lungs become narrower in diameter so naturally there is an increase in resistance of the blood flow through the lungs.
To combat this situation pressure goes up in the artery and in the right ventricle, which helps to pump blood into the artery. Continue reading “Be Aware of PAH”