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About Primary Pulmonary Hypertension (PPH)
"It's
a very rare disease (PPH), that tends to affect women in their
30s. After diagnosis, patients are typically dead within two
years."
-Dr. Sean Gaine, director of the
pulmonary hypertension center at John Hopkins Medical Center
in Boston.
Primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH) is a
serious and potentially life threatening cardiovascular condition
that is not curable. A study published in the New England
Journal of Medicine in August 1996 found that the use of fen
phen for three months or longer is associated with a twenty-three
fold increase in the risk of developing primary pulmonary
hypertension. PPH causes high blood pressure in the lungs
that leads to a feeling of constant breathlessness with minimal
exertion, fatigue, dizzy spells, fainting, and chest pain.
There is no known cause of PPH but it has been the direct
result of the use of the once popular diet drug fen phen,
or phentermine.
There were indications that primary pulmonary
hypertension could occur with fen phen use because a nearly
identical diet drug called Aminorex that was used in Europe
in the 1960s had caused cases of PPH through the 1970s. This
lapse in drug use and PPH diagnosis was due to the 4-6 year
latency period. Cases of PPH are still surfacing and previous
fen phen users are still experiencing the serious adverse
phentermine side effects despite the drug's withdrawal in
1997. In April 2000, the results of a study was published
that observed 579 patients diagnosed with PPH at 12 medical
centers nationwide and concluded that as many as 205 people
who had PPH were affected by diet drugs like fen phen.
Primary pulmonary hypertension is often misdiagnosed
because the side effects can be easily confused for other
common causes. Since many fen phen users were using the diet
drug for dietary purposes, experiencing common PPH symptoms
were easily confused with other indications that were not
out of the ordinary. By the time primary pulmonary hypertension
is often diagnosed it has progressed to late stages of the
disease.
Diagnosis of PPH is only found when a physician
has eliminated every other explanation of the existing symptoms.
Tests that are performed in order to detect PPH are echocardiograms,
cardiac catherization, pulmonary function tests, lung scan,
CAT scan, sleep study, MRI scan, and blood tests. The only
treatment for primary pulmonary hypertension is to control
symptoms using an oral medication or intravenous epoprostenol.
In the U.S. there are estimates that
between 6 million and 7 million people took fen phen, and
cases of PPH are continuing to surface in former fen phen
takers. If you, or a family member has taken fen phen and
is now experiencing phentermine side effects as a result,
please contact us to speak with a fen phen attorney. The Nationwide
Class Action Settlement Agreement with American Home Products
Corporation has received Final Judicial Approval as of January
3, 2002, meaning that anyone who has sustained the deadly
phentermine side effects can now collect their claims if eligible.
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How Primary Pulmonary Hypertension (PPH)
Affects the Body
Primary pulmonary hypertension somehow causes
some of the endothelial cell lining of the lung's capillaries
to peel off. Endothelial cells keep blood from leaking out
when blood cells pass through the small blood vessels, or
capillaries. When blood leaks into the smooth muscle cells
they continuously constrict as a reaction. The smooth muscle
cells normally allow the capillary to get either narrower
or wider depending on how much blood is surging back and forth
between the heart and lungs. So, when multiplied thousands
of times the blood flow is choked off between the heart and
the lungs. As a result, the PPH symptoms, such as feelings
of dizziness, fainting spells, exhaustion, and heart failure
occur.
Primary Pulmonary Hypertension (PPH) Common
Symptoms
- Shortness of breath
- Chest pain
- Weakness
- New Heart Murmur
- Fatigue
- Fainting
- Tiredness
- Death
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