Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome: Treatment, Procedure, Cost and Side Effects

Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome is also known as shock lung or Adult Respiratory distress syndrome.

ARDS is a serious lung condition. In this the fluid fills up the air sacs in your lung, due to which the amount of oxygen which is required for the body part to function does not reach to it and which results into organ failure. Symptoms of ARDS may include facing problem in breathing or gasping of air or shortness in breath, which may caused due to some illness or trauma. The condition of ARDS is a life threatening one, as it disturbs the oxygen requirement of the body. A person can be said to have ARDS if he faces lower blood pressure, muscle fatigue, fast breathing, fever, faster pulse rate, headaches, body weakness etc. These may be because the person is already facing some illness or was sick, or he recently got ARDS. The doctor will manage fluid in patient’s body or provide optimum amount of oxygen required by the body to conduct its functioning. People who may get ARDS may be of age 65 years, or he may smoke, or is involve in consumption of alcohol.

The treatment of ARDS revolves around providing oxygen to the patient so that he can breathe easily. When the patient is taken to the hospital in case of emergency or other then the doctor may suspect ARDS by couple of tests, or x-rays as he may think fit. After that if ARDS is found, the first step is to cure the breathing problem. In this a tube is fitted into the mouth of the patient which helps him/her to breathe and the patient is lay down on breathing machine i.e. Ventilator. For about 2 week, more or less, depends on the condition, doctors keep the patient on ventilator, and if the patient is not able to recover then they may replace the tube to a more comfortable one and side by side the medicines are kept on so that any other problems which may occur during the breathing treatment can be cured without any obligations. Further, your doctor may manage the fluids intake in your body, so that the same condition may not occur again.

The long and complicated procedure to cure ARDS may lead to some side effects. These may be Fatigue, mental illness, bad life quality, memory problems, collapsed lungs, blood clots, infections or emotional problems.

If the person has suffered ARDS or is Recovering, then it is necessary for him to quit smoking, and stop the consumption of alcohol so that no further complications may arise. Else that, he/she should get vaccinated as soon as they face any illness and should follow the doctors instructions well.

One cannot set the definite time period to recover from ARDS. The treatment of ARDS can go long for a period of 7 to 14 days or more. But for a young person it is easy to recover from ARDS within a few months, on the other side for an adult person it is difficult to survive or recover ARDS so soon.

Treatment costs are totally dependent on the place from where you are getting it. The costs associated with ARDS treatment are usually high and starts from the range of RS. 200000.

Any person who is prescribed by his doctors to get the treatment done is eligible for the treatment.

If doctors are of the opinion that age factor may negatively influence the treatment then they may restrict the higher age person to not get the treatment done.

Results of the treatment depend upon how it is being cured at home as well. If the patient does not quit alcohol and smoking then the treatment won’t be permanent for him.