Respiratory Disease and Pneumonia Bacteria
Human Body: Health & Disease
June 6, 2014
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is a serious infection or inflammation of your lungs. The air sacs in the lungs fill with pus and other liquid. Oxygen has trouble reaching you 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. Until 1936, pneumonia was the No. 1 cause of death in the United States. Since then, the use of antibiotics brought it under control. In 1997, pneumonia and influenza combined ranked as the sixth leading cause of death. Pneumonia affects your lungs in two ways. Lobar pneumonia affects a section (lobe) of a lung. Bronchial pneumonia (or bronchopneumonia) affects patches throughout both lungs. Pneumonia is not a single disease. It can have over 30 different causes. There are five main causes of pneumonia: bacterial, viruses, mycoplasmas, other infectious agents, such as fungi – including pneumocystis and various chemicals.
Bacterial pneumonia can attack anyone from infants through the very old. Alcoholics, the debilitated, post-operative patients, people with respiratory diseases or viral infections and people who have weakened immune systems are at greater risk. Pneumonia bacteria are present in some healthy throats. When body defenses are weakened in some way, by illness, old age, malnutrition, general debility or impaired immunity, the bacterial can multiply and cause serious damage. Usually, when a person’s resistance is lowered, bacteria work their way into the lungs and inflame the air sacs. The tissue part of a lobe of the lung, an entire lobe, or even most of the lung’s five lobes becomes completely filled with liquid (this is called “consolidation”). The infection quickly spreads through the bloodstream and the body is invaded. The streptococcus pneumonia is the most common cause of bacterial pneumonia. It is one form of pneumonia for which a vaccine is available.
June 6, 2014
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is a serious infection or inflammation of your lungs. The air sacs in the lungs fill with pus and other liquid. Oxygen has trouble reaching you 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. Until 1936, pneumonia was the No. 1 cause of death in the United States. Since then, the use of antibiotics brought it under control. In 1997, pneumonia and influenza combined ranked as the sixth leading cause of death. Pneumonia affects your lungs in two ways. Lobar pneumonia affects a section (lobe) of a lung. Bronchial pneumonia (or bronchopneumonia) affects patches throughout both lungs. Pneumonia is not a single disease. It can have over 30 different causes. There are five main causes of pneumonia: bacterial, viruses, mycoplasmas, other infectious agents, such as fungi – including pneumocystis and various chemicals.
Bacterial pneumonia can attack anyone from infants through the very old. Alcoholics, the debilitated, post-operative patients, people with respiratory diseases or viral infections and people who have weakened immune systems are at greater risk. Pneumonia bacteria are present in some healthy throats. When body defenses are weakened in some way, by illness, old age, malnutrition, general debility or impaired immunity, the bacterial can multiply and cause serious damage. Usually, when a person’s resistance is lowered, bacteria work their way into the lungs and inflame the air sacs. The tissue part of a lobe of the lung, an entire lobe, or even most of the lung’s five lobes becomes completely filled with liquid (this is called “consolidation”). The infection quickly spreads through the bloodstream and the body is invaded. The streptococcus pneumonia is the most common cause of bacterial pneumonia. It is one form of pneumonia for which a vaccine is available.
Cited: Web MD – Better Information. Better Health. Pneumonia. 6 March 2013. Web. 5 June 2014. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Mayo Clinic Staff. Pneumonia. 21 May 2013. Web. 5 June 2014. Healthline Networks. Health Reference Library. Pneumonia written by Bree Normandin. 7 August 2012. Web. 5 June 2014