What are symptoms of a pulmonary embolism?!


Question: What are symptoms of a pulmonary embolism.?
Hi. A couple of years ago I went to the doctors about a cough I've always had. They did blood work and a chest X-Ray but found nothing. Now recently I found out that my mothers father died of a pulmonary embolism at the age of 33. What I'm wondering is if this cough I have is related to a pulmonary embolism. also, is a pulmonary embolism genetic.?Health Question & Answer


Answers:
The symptoms of pulmonary embolism include (in rough order of prevalence) pleuritic chest pain (pain worst in breathing in), shortness of breath, fever, fast heart rate, cough with/without blood. Large pulmonary emboli can result in low blood pressure and the attendant symptoms - dizziness, blackouts, loss of consciousness, etc.

A cough without any other of the above symptoms is quite unlikely to be due to a pulmonary embolus. The tendency to form blood clots (and hence having a higher risk of embolus) can indeed be genetic - there are blood tests to screen for some of the more common conditions, but having a normal test doesn't mean that you are not at increased risk, particularly given your family history.

Aspirin is a cheap drug that may be beneficial in lowering your risk of a pulmonary embolus - but I would hasten to add that there is no solid trial evidence for its effectiveness in this context.Health Question & Answer

The signs and symptoms of a PE are related to it's size. Most people will have abrupt onset of chest pain, and shortness of breath. I'm surprised your doctor don't have you on a 81mg aspirin every day. This is cheap insurance against preventing a PEHealth Question & Answer



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