What Causes Shortness Of Breath While Walking?

Posted on Sun, 10 Jul 2016

Sun, 10 Jul 2016 Answered on

Sat, 6 Aug 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : I am an 89 year old male with a pacemaker (2nd degree blockage) and, at times asthma. Increasingly I have shortness of breath when I walk up a small incline or hill. I have no problem riding a stationary bile for 20 minutes or walking on flat ground for a mile or two. I take Pilates exercises with a trainer one hour a week. I nap every afternoon for about 1/2-3/4 of an hour. Today, I have had very sudden. sharp. but fleeting, pains in upper left arm- about 5 today. What might be the cause? Heart warning? Thank you. Karl Nygren

Answered by Dr. Ilir Sharka (2 hours later)

Brief Answer:
I would recommend as follows:

Detailed Answer:
Hello!

Welcome and thank you for asking on HCM!

I passed carefully through your question and would explain that it is important excluding coronary artery disease as a possible cause of your symptoms.

Other possible causes that may mimic this clinical scenario would be:

- musculo-skeletal pain
- a cervical backbone disorder causing radicular pain in your arm.

I would recommend going to the ER for a careful physical exam and some tests:

- a resting ECG and cardiac enzymes
- a chest X ray study
- some other blood lab tests (complete blood count, PCR, sedimentation rate, kidney and liver function tests, blood electrolytes).

Further tests may be needed to investigate for the possible cause:

- a cardiac ultrasound to examine your cardiac structure and function
- a cardiac stress tests to investigate for coronary artery disease
- a cervical spine X ray study to rule out possible backbone disorder

You should discuss with your doctor on the above tests.

Hope to have been helpful!

Kind regards,

Dr. Iliri

Note: For further queries related to coronary artery disease and prevention, click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar