Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS)

Acute respiratory distress syndrome is when you have sudden difficulty with your breathing.

The Alveoli

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• ARDS is a certain kind of severe breathing problem when your lungs fill up with fluid

• ARDS causes low oxygen levels in your blood

• Many diseases that injure your lungs can cause ARDS

• You feel short of breath and your lips and/or skin turn blue

• Without treatment, ARDS is often fatal

• You will need extra oxygen and sometimes a ventilator (breathing machine)

• Lung problems: Pneumonia, choking on food (aspiration), smoke inhalation (like from a fire)

• Severe injuries: Burns, drowning, major trauma with shock

• Bodywide problems: Severe infection, drug overdose

• Other organ problems: Heart failure, pancreatitis

Some of the diseases that cause ARDS can also damage other organs besides your lungs. You may have problems with your kidneys, heart, liver, or brain.

Doctors base the diagnosis on:

• Blood tests to measure the amount of oxygen and carbon dioxide in your blood

• Chest x-ray

They may do other tests to look for the cause of ARDS or see what other organs are affected.

You'll need to be in an intensive care unit (ICU). An ICU is an area in the hospital for people who are seriously ill. Doctors will treat the problem that caused ARDS and:

• Give you extra oxygen

• Sometimes put you on a ventilator or noninvasive ventilation using a special mask