What Is ARDS?

ARDS, or acute respiratory distress syndrome, is a lung condition that leads to low oxygen levels in the blood. ARDS can be life threatening. This is because your body's organs, such as the kidneys and brain, need oxygen-rich blood to work properly.

 

Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome is an acute, severe injury to most or all of both lungs. Patients with ARDS experience severe shortness of breath and often require mechanical ventilation because of respiratory failure.

 

ARDS usually occurs in people who are very ill with another disease or who have major injuries. Most people are already in the hospital when they develop ARDS.

 

Overview

To understand ARDS, it helps to understand how the lungs work. When you breathe, air passes through your nose and mouth into your windpipe. The air then travels to your lungs' air sacs. These sacs are called alveoli.

 

Small blood vessels called capillaries run through the walls of the air sacs. Oxygen passes from the air sacs into the capillaries and then into the bloodstream. Blood carries the oxygen to all parts of the body, including the body's organs.

 

In ARDS, infections, injuries, or other conditions cause the lung's capillaries to leak more fluid than normal into the air sacs. This prevents the lungs from filling with air and moving enough oxygen into the bloodstream.

 

When this happens, the body's organs don't get the oxygen they need. Without oxygen, the organs may not work properly or may stop working completely.

 

Most people who develop ARDS are in the hospital for other serious health problems. Rarely, people who aren't hospitalized have health problems that lead to ARDS, such as severe pneumonia.

 

Outlook

ARDS treatment has improved in recent years. As a result, more people are surviving the condition. Survival rates for ARDS vary depending on age, the underlying cause of ARDS, associated illnesses, and other factors.

 

Some people who survive recover completely. Others may have lasting damage to their lungs and other health problems.

 

What Causes ARDS?

Many conditions or factors can directly or indirectly injure the lungs and lead to ARDS:

 

• - Sepsis. This is a condition in which bacteria infect the bloodstream.
• - Pneumonia. This is an infection in the lungs.
• - Severe bleeding caused by an injury to the body.
• - An injury to the chest or head, like a severe blow.
• - Breathing in harmful fumes or smoke.
• - Inhaling vomited stomach contents from the mouth.

 

It's not clear why some very sick or seriously injured people develop ARDS and others don't.

 

Researchers are trying to find out why ARDS develops and how to prevent it.

 

 

"Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will."

 

Who Is At Risk for ARDS?

People at risk for ARDS have a condition or illness that can directly or indirectly injure their lungs.

 

Direct Lung Injury. Conditions that can directly injure the lungs include:

Indirect Lung Injury

Conditions that can indirectly injure the lungs include:

 

What Are the Signs and Symptoms of ARDS?

The first signs and symptoms of ARDS are feeling like you can't get enough air into your lungs, rapid breathing, and low oxygen levels in the blood.

 

Other signs and symptoms depend on the cause of the ARDS. They may occur before ARDS develops. For example, if pneumonia is causing ARDS, you may have a cough and fever before you feel short of breath.

 

Sometimes, people who have ARDS develop signs and symptoms such as low blood pressure, confusion, and extreme tiredness. This may mean that the body's organs, such as the kidneys and heart, aren't getting enough oxygen-rich blood.

 

Most people who develop ARDS are in the hospital for other serious health problems. Rarely, people who aren't hospitalized have health problems that lead to ARDS, such as severe pneumonia.