Pneumonia Explained: Causes & Treatments
This is a collaborative post
Pneumonia is an infection localised to the lungs; they become inflamed, often filling with fluid causing a cough and respiratory issues. Several things can cause pneumonia, like fungi, viruses, or bacteria. However, most of the time, it is not life-threatening unless you fall into certain risk factors like age, underlying health conditions or a weakened immune system. Keep reading for more.
Symptoms
The symptoms of pneumonia can vary in severity depending on the form that you have and, again, whether or not you fall into the risk factors mentioned above. The milder symptoms can often be misdiagnosed as a cold or flu, but they tend to last longer. Symptoms include things like fatigue, nausea, chest pain, dry or wet cough, fever and a chill.
The Risk Factors
There are several groups of people who are at more risk. Children under two years old and adults over sixty-five are the groups that are at the highest risk. In addition, smokers, those that suffer from chronic illnesses and people with a weakened immune system are also at risk. This isn’t to say that if the people in the at-risk groups caught it, they would become seriously ill, but their chances are higher.
Causes
Unfortunately, there are a lot of germs that can cause pneumonia, and they are all in the air around you. Most of the time, your immune system stops the germs from taking hold and infecting your lungs. There are several forms of pneumonia. Firstly, there is community-acquired pneumonia, which is the most common; it is pneumonia, which is caught in your daily life, in and around your community. It can be caused by bacteria, viruses, organisms, or fungi.
There is also hospital-acquired pneumonia, which, as the name suggests, is caught while in hospital for another illness. It can be more serious because often it is resistant to antibiotics, and it is caught by people whose immune systems are already compromised. Health-care acquired pneumonia is similar, except it is caught by people in long-term health care facilities, but it can be just as serious for them. Finally, there is also aspiration pneumonia which occurs when you breathe something into your lungs that disturbs their function.
Treatments
Pneumonia can be treated at home or in the hospital, depending on the severity of the condition. Most of the time, the treatment will simply be antibiotics to clear up the infection, taken either orally or intravenously, depending on the state of your health. If you are hospitalised, you might also be treated with supplemental oxygen or a respirator. There are a lot of resources online should you want to learn more, Patient has a wealth of information on a number of conditions, including pneumonia.
In Conclusion
Pneumonia is often seen as an incredibly serious condition, and it can be, especially if you are classed as at-risk. However, most of the time, pneumonia is a more intense version of a cold or flu. This doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be treated. You will need antibiotics to clear up the infection as it won’t go away by itself as a cold or flu would. If you think you might have pneumonia be sure to make an appointment with your doctor.
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