Despite the fact that medicine has stepped forward rapidly and developed many powerful antibacterial drugs, pneumonia is still one of the most common and deadly diseases, which ranks third in terms of death rate after strokes and cancer. Unfortunately, it is not possible to reduce the incidence.
Pneumonia is an inflammatory process of an infectious origin, which negatively affects the lower respiratory tract with the indispensable involvement of pulmonary matter.
Varieties of pneumonia:
- Community-acquired pneumonia is perhaps the most common type of disease.
- Hospital pneumonia This form of the disease manifests itself in a person who stays in a hospital for a long time, provided that during hospitalization the patient did not have a single symptom indicating the presence of this ailment.
- Aspiratory pneumonia is a form of the disease that manifests itself as a result of the ingestion of pathogenic bacteria through food, water or any foreign objects.
- Atypical pneumonia is perhaps the most severe form of the disease, since it is caused by atypical microflora (for example: chlamydia, mycoplasmas, etc.).
Causes of pneumonia
It is worth considering that pneumonia is a disease of bacterial origin.
The main causative agents of the disease are: staphylococcus, pneumonia and hemophilus bacillus. In rare situations, the impetus for the disease can be Klebsiella, Escherichia coli, but this is if the patient has serious illnesses in parallel.
Factors that significantly increase the likelihood of getting pneumonia:
- Damage to internal organs, especially the kidneys, heart and lungs.
- Reduced body barrier.
- The presence of cancer.
- Preliminary implementation of artificial ventilation of the lungs.
- The defeat of the central nervous system.
- Age over 60 years.
- The effect of general anesthesia on the body.
Symptoms of pneumonia
How does pneumonia manifest in adults? The main manifestations of pneumonia are:
- Rapidly rising and holding heat up to 39 degrees.
- Profuse cough with sputum discharge in large quantities.
- Shortness of breath at rest or with minor physical exertion.
- Pain or discomfort in the chest area.
In most cases, patients notice a significant decrease in working capacity, weakness, fatigue, excessive sweating, trouble sleeping and lack of appetite. In elderly patients, general intoxication of the body can also be observed. It is worth noting that there is a category of people who have pneumonia without symptoms or with mild symptoms - dry cough, periodic headaches and weakness.
How does pneumonia manifest in children? Most often, pneumonia in children develops extremely rapidly, and its cause is complications after an acute respiratory infection. The most common age is from six months to 6 years. The vast majority of pneumonia in children provokes pneumococcus. If you begin to suspect that your child is sick, you should immediately consult a doctor. Treatment is usually carried out in a hospital. Pneumonia without symptoms in children does not actually occur.
This disease is rapidly progressing, therefore, negligence and improper treatment will not be tolerated. Inaction can be fatal!
General blood test for pneumonia: rules for delivery
In order to avoid significant errors in the study of your general analyzes, you should thoroughly prepare for their delivery and comply with all of the following rules:
- Blood donation should be carried out strictly on an empty stomach and in the morning. You can only use the purified water inside without the gas.
- The evening meal must be completed at least 8 hours before the estimated time for blood donation.
- A couple of days before the test, you should refrain from using any medications, since they can significantly change the composition of the blood.
- For a day it is necessary to refrain from fatty foods, alcohol and prevent physical exertion.
What tests for pneumonia must be passed
Pneumonia is an extremely deadly disease, requiring timely detection and appropriate research. Diagnostics should include the following components:
- Biochemical composition of blood.
- General urine analysis.
- General analysis of sputum.
- Fluorography.
With pneumonia, a blood test is the most mandatory component of diagnosis. Rarely, there are cases when the results of blood tests are normal, but at the same time, inflammatory processes will still occur. This indicates that the patient’s immune system has weakened so much that it is not able to affect the ongoing illness.
Changes in test results due to exposure to the disease
With pneumonia, a blood test in an adult should show a fairly high level of white blood cells, but this is provided that the immune system is still able to resist the disease. ESR should reach critical levels. If intoxication occurs in the body for a long time, then anemia may develop. The normal course of pneumonia is not able to manifest itself in the analyzes. Only when the crisis is approaching can the eosinophil count increase rapidly.
In the event that, with pneumonia, a blood test does not show leukocytosis, then this is a bad bell for adults.
Blood test for pneumonia in a child:
- The red blood cell count is normal or slightly reduced. The neglected form of the disease, on the contrary, provokes a rapid increase in the number of red blood cells in the body.
- With pneumonia, a blood test in a child indicates an increased number of leukocytes, which indicates the presence of a bacterial ailment.
- The number of various forms of stab neutrophils is growing rapidly.
- A blood test for pneumonia in a child shows that the disease leads to a rapid decrease in the level of lymphocytes.
- ESR is several times higher than the required rate.
Pneumonia: diagnosis and treatment
A course of treatment for mild pneumonia can be prescribed by doctors with a wide profile: therapists, pediatricians, family doctors. As for the severe form of the disease, then hospitalization is necessary in a specialized department - pulmonary.
The basis for the treatment of pneumonia is antibacterial drugs (antibiotics). The drug, dosage and duration of admission must be determined by the doctor, depending on many factors: the age of the patient, especially the course of the disease and the presence of additional diseases. In most cases, the treatment is complex, using several antibacterial drugs.
The average duration of treatment is 10 days.
Pneumonia Prevention
It is impossible to completely eliminate the likelihood of a disease, but you can make every effort to protect yourself and your loved ones. First of all, you need to try to live in accordance with a healthy lifestyle: adhere to proper nutrition, temper, exercise, spend a lot of time outdoors, avoid stressful situations and adhere to all the rules of personal hygiene. It is necessary to eat plant food or dietary supplements so that the immune system does not malfunction. Bedridden patients are advised to regularly take massage courses and do specially designed breathing and therapeutic exercises, and it may also be advisable to prescribe antiplatelet agents (for example, Trental, Heparin, etc.).
Be extremely scrupulous and attentive to your state of health, because timely diagnosis and treatment of ailments can significantly increase a person's life expectancy!