Risk factors for pneumonia

by Groshan Fabiola

There are a lot of risk factors when it comes to pneumonia. These factors mainly apply to adults. Some of the most common risk factors for pneumonia are: environmental pollutants, alcohol, drugs, serious lung problems or a weakened immune system.

Environmental pollutants and smoke are some of the most important risk factors in pneumonia. If a person smokes more than one pack of cigarettes a day he/ she risks to develop pneumonia much more than a person who does not smoke. Moreover, even if you are not a smoker, but are exposed daily to cigarette smoke, then you are at risk of developing pneumonia as much as a person who smokes is. If you quit smoking, then the risk of developing pneumonia is reduced very much, but the entire benefits of quitting take almost ten years until they are realized. Besides cigarette smoke, industrial smoke, toxic fumes or any other pollutants can damage cilia as well, putting you at risk of developing pneumonia.

Alcohol and drugs, either combined or used separately are also a very big risk factor in pneumonia cases. These are substances that act like sedatives, thus diminishing your reflexes that trigger sneezing and coughing. Furthermore, alcohol intercedes with the actions of your white blood cells, that play the role of destroying bacteria. So the quantity of alcohol you drink is highly related with developing pneumonia or any other infectious disease. People that used drugs intravenously are also very much at risk of developing pneumonia because they can suffer from an infection at the site of the injection, infections that then can spread through your blood stream.

Dormitory conditions, believe it or not, can also be risk factors for pneumonia. Studies have shown that students or recruits are more likely to develop pneumonia than a normal person. However, studies have also shown that these people are more likely to develop a milder pneumonia and they are at lower risk of developing a more serious pneumonia type.

Your immune system also plays a very important risk in pneumonia cases. People that have an impaired immune system are very susceptible to pneumonia. Any conditions that somehow compromises your immune system makes you very vulnerable to pneumonia.

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