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more_legal_areas PPHSymptoms of Primary Pulmonary Hypertension (PPH) can oftentimes be deceiving. Many patients afflicted with PPH overlook the symptoms that characterize the initial stages of the disorder such as excessive fatigue, dizziness, shortness of breath, chest pain and fainting, thereby not becoming positively diagnosed with PPH until its later stages. In advanced cases, symptoms of PPH include bluish skin and lips due to poor blood circulation, swelling of the ankles and lower legs, and frequent throbbing heart palpitations. Advanced PPH patients are also restricted from engaging in intense physical activity as a result of their poor blood circulation.
As mysterious as the symptoms of PPH can be, the cause of the fatal lung disorder is even more so. Doctors and researchers have been unable to pinpoint the exact cause or causes of PPH, but an increasing number of patients believe that diet pills such as Fen-Phen, Redux, and Pondimin are to blame. The evidence presented in a recent lawsuit against Wyeth, a Fen-Phen pharmaceutical manufacturer, appeared convincing, as a jury found the company responsible for the death of a Texas woman afflicted with PPH. The woman''s family was awarded a 1.13 billion dollar payout to compensate for her death due to PPH, which the court believed was caused by taking Pondimin, a Fen-Phen diet pill. The relationship between Fen-Phen and PPH is striking, as the New England Journal of Medicine reported that users of Fen-Phen diet pills have a 1 in 20,000 chance of developing the disorder, while a normal patient exhibits only a 1 in 50,000 chance. With an estimated 5-7 million previous users of Fen-Phen related products, the number of reported cases of PPH may be on the rise.
PPH is a fatal lung disorder resulting from a sudden constriction of the blood vessels in the pulmonary artery. With the constriction of the artery''s blood vessels, the right ventricle must work harder and harder to pump the oxygen-deprived blood away from the heart and to the lungs. This creates an intense and dangerous strain on the right ventricle, forcing it to take on an unnatural workload in the circulation process, eventually resulting in heart failure and subsequent death.
At this point in time, researchers have been unsuccessful in developing a cure for PPH. The survival rate for patients with PPH is extremely low, with an average life-expectancy of only three years upon diagnosis. The future does look bright though, as a number of patients who received early diagnosis and advanced drug treatment for PPH have lived comfortably with the disease for 10-15 years.
If you exhibit any of the symptoms of PPH discussed above, consult a doctor immediately and find out more about the disorder. Patients who believe they have developed PPH as a result of taking diet pills such as Fen-Phen, Redux, or Pondimin may be entitled to take legal action against the pharmaceutical companies responsible. Individual claims can be filed in court, with settlements reaching into the millions of dollars.