About Primary Pulmonary Hypertension

Primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH) is a rare, serious, and life threatening condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries of the lung is extremely high excluding other diseases of the heart or lungs. There is no known cause of PPH but it is linked to the use of fen-phen. PPH develops in response to increased resistance to blood flow and the increased workload that is caused by the resistance causes the right side of the heart to become enlarged. This condition can eventually lead to progressive heart failure, a disorder where the heart loses the ability to efficiently pump blood.

Primary pulmonary hypertension affects women more than men, which in the case of fen-phen makes sense since most people taking diet pills are women. Symptoms of primary pulmonary hypertension include:

-a progressive shortness of breath

-chest pain

-weakness

-fatigue

-feeling of light-headedness, especially during exercise

-dizziness

-swelling of ankles and legs

PPH is hard to detect with routine medical exams even when the disease has progressed because the signs and symptoms are easily confused with other conditions. Normally PPH is diagnosed when several other causes of pulmonary hypertension are excluded, though additional testing is needed to positively diagnose this.

There is no cure known for primary pulmonary hypertension as of yet. Right now the only treatment for PPH is to just control the symptoms with oral medications or intravenous epoprostenol. As the disease worsens and progress doctors may use oxygen or even a lung or heart-lung transplant.

There are at least hundred of people who have taken fen-phen and now have a form of PPH. They now have an elevated pulmonary artery pressure while resting as well as an increases artery pressure while performing just light exercise during the right heart catheterization procedure. If you have taken any fen-phen for over three months or have experienced any of the listed symptoms associated to PPH it is important to undergo professional examinations to ensure your safety and to contact us to learn your legal rights.

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