High death toll from pneumonia

by Sharon Bell

Pneumonia kills over 60,000 Americans every year and it remains a leading cause of death of children worldwide. This is tragic considering the fact that the disease can be cured with early detection and treatment.

Pneumonia is the inflammation of the lung in which the air spaces are filled with mucus and fluid, making breathing difficult. The disease has many causes and can be fatal in very young and very old patients.

Bacterial pneumonia, which is the more dangerous type of the disease, can be caused by infection with pneumococci, staphylococci and other forms of bacte¬ria. This is usually confined to just one area of the lung and is called lobar pneumonia.

"Among children 12 and under, the most frequent cause of pneumonia is the bacteria pneumococcus. Among adolescents and young adults, the most frequent infective agent is a bacteria like microbe called Mycoplasma pneumoniae; symptoms at first are like those of a chest cold, with a dry cough and then a sputum producing cough," explained Dr. Harold C. Neu, professor of medicine and head of Infectious Dis¬eases in “The Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons Complete Home Medical Guide.

"Bacterial pneumonia can also be a complication of influenza A. Often the symptoms of flu have disappeared, then suddenly the patient is worse with fever, cough, and shortness of breath. The recuperating victim this time has a full-fledged case of bacterial pneumonia and all its distressing symptoms. These secondary infections are most often caused by the pneumoccos, Haemophilus, or worst of all the staphylococcus. This microbe can be so deadly so doctors usually prescribe antibiotics that can destroy all three of the possible microorganisms," Neu added.

Another type of bacterial pneumonia is caused by streptococci (Diplococcus pneumoniae) and usually follows an upper respiratory tract infection. It is characterized by the sudden onset of chills and high fever.

The risk of acquiring the disease increases in those who have AIDS, heart disease, and diabetes, those who smoke and drink a lot, exposure to certain chemicals or pollutants, and in those who are hospitalized or have had surgery. Treatment depends on the severity of symptoms and the type of pneumonia you have.

To diagnose pneumonia, the physician will first listen to the chest, checking for fine, crackling noises, and then tap it, being alert for characteristic dull thuds. A certain diagnosis cannot be made, however, without chest x-rays, which will show patches in the lungs where air sacs are filled with fluid and debris instead of air. To determine the particular infective agent, lab tests can be done on blood and sputum samples, but the results are not 100 percent accurate," Neu said.

How serious pneumonia is for you depends on your overall health and the type and extent of pneumonia you have. If you're young and healthy, your pneumonia can usually be treated successfully. But if you have heart failure or lung ailments, especially from smoking, or if you're older, your pneumonia may be harder to cure. You're also more likely to develop complications, some of which can be life-threatening,” warned the Mayo Clinic.

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About the Author
Sharon Bell is an avid health and fitness enthusiast and published author. Many of her insightful articles can be found at the premier online news magazine http://www.HealthLinesNews.com.

What are the complications of pneumonia?

by Groshan Fabiola

Pneumonia is a very serious condition that also has some very severe complications. Pneumonia is on the third place on the list of most frequent causes of hospitalization. More than a million and a half people that suffer from pneumonia are hospitalized every year. Although most of the people that suffer from pneumonia respond very well to treatment and most of them are cured, the infection caused by pneumonia is still a serious problem that can bring a lot of complications. In some countries, pneumonia is the first cause of death because of an infection.

The severity of pneumonia depends on several factors like age, the state of their health or weak immune system. However, even if you do not suffer from a very serious case of pneumonia, there is always the risk of developing a complication. The most common pneumonia complications are: abscesses, respiratory failure and bacteremia.

Abscesses are some of the most dangerous pneumonia complications. These are cavities filled with pus that are found in your lungs. Besides the fact that they are filled with pus, these pneumonia complications also have thick walls and they form when the infection that you have has destroyed your lung tissue. These pneumonia complications are the result of a mixture of organisms that are carried into your lungs. If these abscesses are not treated, this can cause hemorrhage and thus can lead to death. However, there are many antibiotics available that can reduce the risk of death or hemorrhage considerably.

Another complication of pneumonia can be respiratory failure. This is actually the main cause of death in patients that suffer from pneumococcal pneumonia. When your lungs are not able to function properly, the quantity of oxygen is reduced and you risk to die. As you can see, this is a very serious pneumonia complication. Failure to breath can happen from the changes in your lungs that occur when you suffer from pneumonia. Failure can also occur when you loose the needed oxygen from your arteries when your pneumonia case results in a very abnormal flow of the blood.

The third pneumonia complication is bacteremia, that means bacteria in your blood. This is one of the complications that mostly happens in cases of streptococcus pneumonia. However, there are few the cases where this infection actually spreads to other locations of your body. Bacteremia is also a very common complication of some other gram negative microbes, which include haemophilus influenzae.

About the Author
You can find great content regarding pneumonia causes, pneumonia symptoms and many moreby visiting http://www.pneumonia-center.com/

Pneumonia and its causes, risk factors and diagnosis

by Groshan Fabiola

There are are mechanisms to protect your lungs from infection at each stage of the respiratory stage, but because you are very much exposed to viruses and bacteria sometimes these mechanisms fail in protect your respiratory system and you develop pneumonia. The infectious agents are attacked by white blood cells and all the process determins inflammation and difficult breathing.

Varius types of pneumonia include: Community-acquired pneumonia that is aquired at school, work or the gym which may be mistaken with the acute eosinophilic pneumonia developed by soldiers. Nosocomial pneumonia which occurs in hospitalized people, especially in those who are on a mechanical ventilator, are in the intensive care unit or have a compromised immune system. This type is severe especially in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases or HIV/AIDS.

Aspiration pneumonia which has been described in a brain injury or other condition affects your normal gag reflex, when the content of the stomach is inhaled in your lungs after vomiting. Opportunistic pneumonia appears in people with compromised immune systems, with AIDS, sickle cell disease, other conditions that impair the immune system. For example, P. carinii pneumonia that almost never occurs inhealthy people.

Risk factors Persons aged 65 and older, very young children, persons with immune deficiency diseases as HIV/AIDS and chronic illnesses, removed spleen, impaired immune system. It has been proved that smoke and abuse alcohol are dangerous too. People who require mechanical ventilation are particularly at risk because the breathing tube, patients hospitalized in an intensive care unit, exposion to certain chemicals or pollutants, toxic fumes. Exposion to fungus as: Coccidioidomycosis, found in the US, Southern California and the desert Southwest or histoplasmosis moslty found in Ohio and Mississippi River valleys.

When to seek medical advice if you experience shortness of breath, chest pain that fluctuates, cough, an unexplained fever with chills and sweats. If you have heart failure or lung ailments, pneumonia can prove fatal in as little as 24 hours.

Screening and diagnosis After your doctor exams you and diagnosis the pneumonia you will be sent to chest X-rays and if the image is not clear enough then you may have a more sophisticated imaging test known as a computerized tomography (CT) scan, which takes a series of computer-directed X-rays. Blood tests are necesary and sometimes the examination of your phlegm.

Complications

In young and healthy people your pneumonia is treated with succes, but with the age and if your health is deteriorated: heart failure or lung ailments pneumonia is harder to cure. You may develop the following complications: Bacteremia if the infection invades your bloodstream this way it spreads quickly to the other organs, interferes with your ability to breathe because inflammates your lungs. Pleural effusion occurs when sometimes fluid accumulates between the thin, transparent membrane (pleura) covering your lungs and the chest wall.

About the Author
You can find great content regarding pneumonia causes, pneumonia symptoms and many more by visiting http://www.pneumonia-center.com/