World PH Day 2018

Dear Readers,

Today is May 5th 2018 - World PH Day!! A day where all Pulmonary Hypertension Associations and PH'ers from across the world get together to raise awareness for PH!

Over the years I have continued to raise awareness for this incurable condition and one day I will receive my double lung transplant! Until that day I will forever raise awareness until people understand what us PH'ers go through.

What is Pulmonary Hypertension?
"To understand what PH is, it first helps to understand a bit about the circulatory system. As shown in the figure, the heart pumps oxygen-poor blood to the lungs so the blood can take up oxygen. Blood that is oxygen-poor is normally shown on diagrams as blue, whereas oxygen-rich blood returning from the lungs is normally shown in red. During periods of exercise, the heart beats more quickly to get more oxygen to the muscles. At the same time, the blood vessels carrying blood to the lungs (the pulmonary arteries) expand to allow more blood through. The pulmonary arteries do this by stretching slightly. In a person with PH, the walls of the pulmonary arteries are thicker, so are less able to stretch. In a person with PH, because the pulmonary arteries are less able to stretch, the heart has to work harder to pump blood to the lungs. If the heart has to work harder than usual over a long period of time (months or years), it begins to work less effectively." (Extract from PHA UK website)

Click on "About Me" page to read more about my PH journey and please continue to like my Facebook Page, Tess and PH and follow me on Twitter @maritess_mt

Thank you for continuing to follow my blog and PH journey. 

#NoCureAlwaysHope

My video with PHA UK



My 10th PH Anniversary video.