DISTURBANCE OF ACTION OF RESPIRATORY MUSCLES AS A CONTRIBUTING CAUSE OF DYSPNEA

Abstract

It has long been recognized that the existence and severity of dyspnea in persons with diseases of the heart and lungs often bear little relation to disturbances in the acid-base equilibrium or in the aeration of the blood. This was suggested by the work of Krogh and Lindhard¹ on muscular exercise as long ago as 1913 and was definitely described by Peabody and Wentworth² in 1917 in certain cases of cardiac disease with dyspnea. Further evidence to the same effect has more recently been brought forward by Anthony,³ Cullen and his associates,⁴ Knipping, Lewis and Moncrieff⁵ and others. The importance of the mechanics of breathing in the causation of dyspnea has received adequate attention only in recent years, owing perhaps in part to the great advances made, especially between 1914 and 1928, in the knowledge of the acid-base equilibrium of the body and particularly of