14 Health Problems That Could Leave You Short of Breath

It’s not a normal part of aging, and it could signal one of many health issues

Kim Painter,

AARP

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Published April 30, 2025

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Anyone can become short of breath. Just rush up a flight or two of stairs for the first time in a long time, and you may find yourself briefly gasping for air.

But if you suddenly or regularly feel hungry for air without that kind of obvious explanation, that’s another matter, doctors say. Most often, it means trouble with your heart, your lungs, or both, says Nitin Budhwar, M.D., chief of geriatric medicine at the University of New Mexico.

“It is not normal to feel short of breath,” he says. “People shouldn’t just accept it as part of life” or “a normal part of aging.”

Healthy lungs “don’t wear out,” so shortness of breath should always be checked out, says Brian Christman, M.D., a spokesperson for the American Lung Association and a professor and vice chair for clinical affairs at Vanderbilt University’s School of Medicine.

Dyspnea, the medical term for shortness of breath, can have many causes. The likely suspects vary, depending partly on whether the problem is chronic, meaning it’s been developing for a while, or is acute, meaning it started suddenly.

Here are some of the most common causes in each situation.

Causes of chronic shortness of breath

Someone with chronic shortness of breath might tell their doctor that they’ve noticed a gradual change — that “a year ago I could walk two miles, and now it's 150 feet to my mailbox, and I'm short of breath when I come back,” Christman says. That’s “a real change,” he says, and should start a conversation about what else is going on, including any new or worsening health problems.

Often, such chronic breathlessness has multiple, related causes, Budhwar says, many of which can be effectively treated.

Among the possibilities:

1. Asthma

If you’ve had asthma your whole life, you know that shortness of breath, along with wheezing and other symptoms, can be signs of an attack. But if you’ve never been diagnosed with asthma, don’t rule it out if you notice such symptoms coming and going, Christman says. “You can get asthma as you get older,” he says, because of changes in your immune system or your environment.

2. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

COPD is an umbrella term for lung conditions, including emphysema, that cause swelling and irritation inside airways, making it harder for air to flow through the lungs. Smoking is the most common cause, and asthma increases the risk. Along with shortness of breath, symptoms can include coughing, wheezing and bringing up mucus.

3. Heart failure

Having this condition means your heart can’t pump enough blood because of damage that leaves it too weak or stiff. It can develop gradually or suddenly. It can cause shortness of breath when you’re active but also when you’re lying down. You might also have symptoms like leg swelling and tiredness. Your doctor is more likely to suspect heart failure if you have a history of heart attacks, high blood pressure, diabetes or other conditions that raise the risk, Christman says.

4. Coronary artery disease

This is the kind of heart disease in which plaque builds up in your arteries, reducing blood flow to the heart. Eventually, it can cause a heart attack. But even before that, you can have symptoms such as chest pain (angina) and shortness of breath.

5. Lung inflammation and scarring

If you have certain autoimmune diseases, like rheumatoid arthritis or lupus, or a history of exposure to certain substances, like asbestos or silica, you could have one of a group of conditions called interstitial lung disease. These can cause inflammation and scarring that make it harder for you to move oxygen out of your lungs and into the rest of your body.

6. Obesity

If you’ve put on a lot of weight, especially around your belly, the added fat under your skin and around your organs leaves less room for your lungs to expand, Budhwar says. There’s also “more of you to haul around,” so more strain on your lungs, he says.

7. Deconditioning

Getting much less active — which can go hand in hand with weight gain but can also happen when you spend a long time recovering from injury, illness or surgery — can take a big toll on your heart and lung fitness, leaving you breathless from activities you used to handle with more ease. That’s especially true if you’re older and frailer to begin with, Christman says.

If you have chronic shortness of breath, expect your doctor to ask a lot of questions before ordering any medical testing, Budhwar and Christman say. Your answers, and your medical history, “really dictate which way the workup is going to go” and whether you need to see a specialist, Budhwar says.

Depending on the cause or causes, treatments may include medicines, specialized exercise and rehabilitation programs or other approaches.

Causes of acute shortness of breath

If you were breathing just fine yesterday or an hour ago and now you are struggling to get enough air, “that really needs an urgent workup,” meaning a trip to an emergency room or a call to 911, Budhwar says.

Here are some possible causes of sudden shortness of breath:

1. Heart attack

“You can have a heart attack without clear chest pain” but with shortness of breath and other possible symptoms, Christman says. Other symptoms can include discomfort in your jaw, neck, shoulders or arms, as well as nausea, lightheadedness and tiredness, according to the American Heart Association. Heart attacks without chest pain are especially common in women and people with diabetes, Christman says.

2. Heart rhythm problems

A suddenly racing heart and shortness of breath could be signs of a serious heart rhythm problem, such as atrial fibrillation (AFib), which is linked to stroke. “If you suddenly flip [to] a high rate, that will make you short of breath,” Christman says. “It’s like running uphill all day.”

3. Pneumonia

Shortness of breath combined with a fever and, sometimes, chest pain could mean you have a lung infection, Christman says. Many kinds of bacteria, fungi and viruses, including COVID-19, can cause pneumonia.

4. Collapsed lung

Chest pain on one side and pain when you take a deep breath could mean a pneumothorax, or collapsed lung, Christman says. This can happen after an injury, with some diseases or after a medical procedure in which a needle is inserted in the chest.

5. Pulmonary embolism

This is a blood clot that stops blood flow to an artery in the lung. “Think of it like a lung attack,” Budhwar says. These clots often travel from the legs. Symptoms can include chest pain and fainting, as well as shortness of breath.

6. Internal bleeding

You may get blood tests for anemia — low levels of healthy red blood cells or hemoglobin, the protein that carries oxygen through your body. When shortness of breath and anemia suddenly show up together, it could be a sign of serious internal bleeding, Budhwar says, from causes like a ruptured ulcer or an aneurysm (weakened blood vessel). It’s important, he says, to find where the bleeding is coming from and stop it.

7. Anxiety

For some people, severe anxiety can lead to panic attacks. In a typical attack, “suddenly you feel you're going to die and you're short of breath and feel like everything's closing in,” Christman says. Before you get that diagnosis, though, doctors should make sure that there isn’t a physical problem causing the symptoms, he and Budhwar say.

Finding the cause of any sudden shortness of breath is urgent, the doctors say, so you can get the right treatment. In some cases, quick treatment might even save your life.

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Kim Painter is a contributing writer who specializes in health and psychology. She frequently writes for AARP's Staying Sharp and previously worked as a health reporter and columnist at USA Today.