MedicineNet.com
About Us | Privacy Policy | Site Map
February 9, 2010
MedicineNet home Picture Slideshows Diseases and conditions Symptoms and signs Procedures and tests Medications Picture Image Collection MedTerms medical dictionary Pet Health
home > dyspnea definition
Font Size
A
A
A

Definition of Dyspnea

Dyspnea: Difficult or labored breathing; shortness of breath.

Dyspnea is a sign of serious disease of the airway, lungs, or heart. The onset of dyspnea should not be ignored but is reason to seek medical attention.

The word dyspnea comes the Greek "dys-", difficulty + "pnoia", breathing = difficulty breathing. Dyspnea is the American spelling and dyspnoea is the British (mis)spelling.


Last Editorial Review: 11/1/1998

Common Misspellings: dyspenia, dypsena, dypsnea, dyspena

Search All of MedicineNet For:
  


Printer-Friendly Format  |  Email to a Friend

Back to MedTerms online medical dictionary A-Z List

Privacy Policy

Women's Health

Find out what women really need.

Are you Depressed? Take the Quiz

Your Guide to Symptoms & Signs: Pinpoint Your Pain


From WebMD

Lung Disease/COPD Resources
Featured Centers
Health Solutions From Our Sponsors


MedicineNet Authored

Webster's New World
Medical Dictionary
Learn more »

Webster's New World Medical Dictionary

MedTerms Medical Word
of the Day XML







Health categories:

Slideshows | Diseases & Conditions | Symptoms & Signs | Procedures & Tests | Medications | Image Collection | Medical Dictionary | Pet Health

Popular health centers:

Allergies | Arthritis | Blood Pressure | Cancer | Chronic Pain | Cold & Flu | Diabetes | Digestion | Eyesight | Health & Living | Healthy Kids

Hearing & Ear | Heart | Infectious Disease | Men's Health | Mental Health | News & Views | Pregnancy | Sexual Health | Skin | Women's Health | More...

MedicineNet.com:

About Us | Newsletters | RSS Feeds | Privacy Policy | Site Map | WebMD® | Medscape® | eMedicine® | eMedicineHealth® | RxList®

This website is certified by Health On the Net Foundation. Click to verify. This site complies to the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information:
verify here.

©1996-2010 MedicineNet, Inc. All rights reserved. Notices and Legal Disclaimer.
MedicineNet does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See additional information.