Moderate to Severe Difficulty Breathing in Adults and Older Children
Difficulty breathing can occur when the body's lungs or heart are
not working well.
Moderate trouble breathing means:
- It's hard to talk in full
sentences.
- It's hard to breathe with activity.
Severe trouble breathing means:
- You cannot talk at all.
- You have to
work very hard to breathe.
- You feel like you can't get enough
air.
- You do not feel alert or cannot think clearly.
Last Revised:
December 21, 2011
Author:
Healthwise Staff
Medical Review:
William H. Blahd, Jr., MD, FACEP - Emergency Medicine & David Messenger, MD