Your breath can be a clue to good or bad health.
The respiratory system controls an individual's breathing patterns, though many outside factors can play a role in how fast, slow, deep or shallow a person breathes. These can be signs of both good and bad health and can be used to judge if a person is in need of medical attention.
Stress
Stress can affect the breathing patterns of an individual. This is called hyperventilation and is described as someone breathing frequently, excessively and quickly. Hyperventilation is an intuitive response that is meant to aid our flight or fight reaction.
Posture
People with poor posture will stoop and cause their bodies to take shallow, irregular breaths. This is often seen in people who work frequently at a desk or in a sitting position. It is also seen in elderly people who start to bend over while they walk.
Pregnancy
A pregnant woman's breathing is affected because of the way she carries the baby. The uterus puts pressure of the diaphragm, causing the breaths to be shorter and more frequent. As the pregnancy progresses it becomes more difficult for some women to take full breaths. This often changes at the very end of the pregnancy when the baby starts to drop into pelvis. Hormones can also cause women to take shorter breaths.
Infections
Infections can cause breathing difficulties. This happens with minor colds and flus and can get worse with conditions like pneumonia. Fluids like mucous enter the lungs and make breathing difficult.
Smoking
Smoking will make it more difficult for smokers to breathe because of the damage the chemicals do to the lungs. The damage to the smoker gets progressively worse the longer he smokes and can lead to conditions like emphysema, bronchitis and lung cancer, which make breathing even more difficult.
Asthma
People with asthma have trouble breathing because of constricted airways. This is a condition seen in both children and adults.
Physical Fitness
A physically fit person will have a greater lung capacity than a sedentary person. This can help increase stamina and make breathing easier.
Head Injury
A head injury can cause abnormal breathing. Abnormal breathing after a head injury is a sign of a concussion and can be caused by bleeding around the brain.
Narcotics
Narcotic medications can cause breathing to become much slower and deeper than normal because part of their application is to calm a person.
Hypothermia
People who are experiencing hypothermia have slow, deep breaths. This is because the body is in survival mode and is trying to conserve energy.
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