Causes of PPH & PAH

What Causes PPH?

There may be one or more causes of PPH; however, all remain unknown. The low incidence makes learning more about the disease extremely difficult. Studies of PPH also have been difficult because a good animal model of the disease has not been available. Nevertheless, researchers think that in most people who develop PPH or PAH the blood vessels are particularly sensitive to certain internal or external factors and constrict, or narrow, when exposed to these factors.Diet Drugs - Fen Phen

A significant association exists between the use of the fen phen diet drug and PPH. Fen phen was taken off the market in the US in 1997. Studies have shown that it can be several years after having stopped taking diet drugs that patients develop the disease. Medical experts have testified that there is a potential latency of ten or more years between the last date on which a patient is exposed to diet drugs and the date at which the patient develops the first symptoms of what is ultimately diagnosed as PPM. If you have PPH and took fen phen, please contact us, you may have legal rights that you need to protect.

Other Causes of PPH

People with Raynaud's disease seem more likely than others to develop PPM; Raynaud's disease is a condition in which the fingers and toes turn blue when cold because the blood vessels in the fingers and toes are particularly sensitive to cold.Cocaine, HIV, and pregnancy are some of the factors that are thought to trigger constriction, or narrowing, in the pulmonary artery resulting in PPH. In about 6 to 10 percent of cases, PPH is familial; that is, it is inherited from other family members. The familial form of PPH is similar to the more common form of the disease, sometimes referred to as "sporadic" PPH.