Common Illness


eg: UK or Brides UK or Classical Art or Buy Music or Spirituality

Business & Money

Technology

Women

Health

Education

Family

Travel

Cars

Entertainment

Pneumonia Symptoms And Treatment

View:

Pneumonia

Definition:

Pneumonia is an acute or chronic disease marked by inflammation of one or both lungs. An inflammation of the lungs caused by viruses, bacteria, or other microorganisms and sometimes by physical and chemical irritants.

The air sacs in the lungs fill with pus and other liquid. Oxygen has trouble reaching your blood. If there is too little oxygen in your blood, your body cells can't work properly. Because of this and spreading infection through the body pneumonia can cause death.

Pneumonia can range from very mild to very severe, even fatal. The severity depends on the type of organism causing pneumonia as well as your age and underlying health.

Pneumonia may be defined according to location of the lung as:

Lobar Pneumonia (occurs in one lobe of the lung).

Bronchopneumonia (tends to be patchy)

Causes of pneumonia:

Bacteria, Viruses, and Other Causes of Pneumonia

Some of the important bacterial causes are:

Gram-positive bacteria:

The most common cause of pneumonia is the gram-positive bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae (also called S. pneumoniae or the pneumococcus ).

Staphylococcus (S.) aureus , the other major gram-positive bacterium responsible for pneumonia, accounts for about 2% of community acquired pneumonias . It is associated with viral influenza, and can develop about five days after the onset of flu symptoms.

Streptococcus pyogenes or Group A Streptococcus : This bacteria affects the functions of the lung, which in turns leads to pneumonia.

Gram-Negative Bacteria.

Haemophilus (H.) influenzae is the second most common organism causing community acquired pneumonia.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a major cause of pneumonia that occurs in the hospital. It is a common pneumonia in patients with chronic or severe lung disease.

Other gram-negative bacteria that cause pneumonia include E. coli , Proteus and Enterobacter .

Viruses : A number of viruses can cause pneumonia either directly or indirectly, and include the following:

Influenza. Pneumonia is the major serious complication of viral influenza (the "flu") and can be very serious.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). RSV is a major cause of pneumonia in infants and people with damaged immune systems.

Herpesviruses. In adults, herpes simplex virus and varicella-zoster (the cause of chicken pox) are generally causes of pneumonia only in people with impaired immune systems.

Other possible causes of pneumonia may be:

Pneumonia is caused by an infection or injury to the lower respiratory tract resulting in inflammation. Pneumonia can also result from the aspiration of gastric contents, water, or other irritants.

Pneumonia can also be caused by inhaling substances, such as caustic chemicals, food or vomit into the lungs. This is known as "aspiration" pneumonia.

Smoking, heavy drinking, heart failure, diabetes, or having a lung disease, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), also increase the risk of developing pneumonia.

Symptoms of pneumonia:

The symptoms of pneumonia vary from person to person, and few people experience all of them.

The possible symptoms may be :

Fever, which may be less common in older adults.

Fast heartbeat is one of the primary symptom of pneumonia.

Feeling very tired or feeling very weak .

Loss of appetite may occur in case of pneumonia.

Vague pain under and around the breast bone may occur, but the severe chest pain associated with typical bacterial pneumonia is uncommon.

Patients may experience a severe hacking cough, but it usually does not produce sputum.

Cough, often producing mucus from the lungs. Mucus may be rusty or green or tinged with blood.

wheezing

difficulty breathing

Sometimes nausea, vomiting, muscle aches occurs.

Mental confusion.

Coughing up sputum containing pus or blood.

Home remedies for pneumonia:

Parsnip Juice: The juice of parsnip, a root vegetable botanically known as Pastinaca sativa, is very effective for the treatment of pneumonia.

Basil: Rub the oil of basil on the chest of the patient and give internally the juice of 5 leaves of basil mixed with a little ground black pepper at six hourly intervals. This will induce sweating and relieve the patient from pneumonia.

Vegetable Juices: The juice of carrots, in combination with spinach juice, or beet and cucumber juices, helps in the healing process.

Toss the Cigarettes: Smokers are much more likely to develop bronchitis than nonsmokers. If you stop smoking, you may cough up even more mucus for a time, but that's actually a good sign. "It means that your lungs are working to clear themselves out.

Turpentine Oil: The pain of pneumonia can be relieved by rubbing oil of turpentine over the rib cage and wrapping warmed cotton wool over it.

Eat Onions: Onions contain a number of ingredients, including quercetin, a compound in the bioflavonoid family that may help protect the lungs from infection

Pneumonia Symptoms And Treatment

When bacteria and viruses enter the lungs, they cause an inflammation first. This is not a serious problem, but if the person infected happens to have a weak defense system then this simple infection triggers pneumonia, which is an illnes that must not be ignored.

In the early 1900's pneumonia was the disease with the biggest number of victims in the United States, but then antibiotics were discovered and most of the problem was solved.

There are two main types of pneumonia: lobar pneumonia and bronchial pneumonia. Lobar pneumonia only affects one lung, and bronchial pneumonia affects them both. Fortunately, since the discovery of antibiotics, what once used to be a severe, death-causing illness, now can be treated at home. If you follow the treatment and take your medication the disease will be cured in one or two weeks, depending on the patient.

The first pneumonia symptom is coughing and fever. A few days after later, a greenish liquid is eliminated when you cough, and the fever gets worse. Then pain in the chest starts to be felt, and when the illness advances the patients start to cough blood, loose appetite, vomit, and their skin gets a blue color. These symptoms are not the same in all patients, they may vary from one person to another, and they also depend on what caused the pneumonia.

If you experience any of the symptoms mentioned above then you should immediately visit a doctor. If the symptoms indicate pneumonia then the doctor also makes an x-ray on the patient and sometimes some blood tests. If the diagnose is pneumonia, then the antibiotic treatment starts.

The treatment is easy, and in most cases it can be done at home, but if the disease advanced too much before the diagnose then the patient has to stay in the hospital for a while. The doctor first performs a test to determine whether you are allergic to certain antibiotics or not, and then based on the results of this test the best antibiotics are administered.

You may get the pneumonia virus or bacteria from school or work, so preventing it is not too easy. But fortunately this illness is not what it used to be and it can now be easily cured.

Related Articles
Author
Most Popular

•	Acid Reflux Symptoms And Treatment, by Tom Houser
•	Anemia Symptoms And Treatment, by Alien
•	Anxiety Symptoms And Treatment, by Alien
•	Arthritis Symptoms And Treatment, by Dr John Anne
•	Bronchitis Symptoms And Treatment, by Alien

About Author

Both Prahalad Singh & Groshan Fabiola are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Prahalad Singh has sinced written about articles on various topics from Strep Throat, Health and Pneumonia Causes. Nikhil Jain is a writer, who writes many great articles on home remedies and herbal remedies and some conditions and ailments. For more information on. Prahalad Singh's top article generates over 2900 views. to your Favourites.

Groshan Fabiola has sinced written about articles on various topics from Woman Menopause, Medical Condition and Health. Great resources can be found regarding symptoms,. Groshan Fabiola's top article generates over 6120000 views. to your Favourites.

Cad Software For Windows
Easy to learn. progeCAD professional includes their proprietary Express-Tools pack Free technical support in Australia, Europe, Worldwide by progeSOFT and CADDIT.