Mary Lou Retton, a legendary gymnast, recently faced a potentially fatal bout with pneumonia, which has shocked many people. Family relatives tell the Associated Press that the five-time Olympian is struggling for her life in a Texas hospital as a result of a “very rare form of pneumonia.”
Babies and toddlers, along with the elderly (those 65 and up), are particularly vulnerable to this respiratory ailment. Experts told Fortune, however, that it is still a threat to relatively young people like Retton, who is 55.
According to Dr. Carrie Horn, chief medical officer at leading U.S. respiratory hospital National Jewish Health in Denver, and a hospitalist, “severe pneumonia,” meaning that someone is sick enough to need oxygen, be admitted to the hospital, or potentially die from the infection, is relatively rare in healthy people in the midlife age range.
Still, “it can happen, and we don’t always know why it happens to some people and not others,” she adds. “Chronic medical conditions definitely increase the risk of severe pneumonia and complications in that midlife group.”
In the United States alone, about 1.5 million people go to the emergency room every year because of a potentially fatal ailment.
This may interest you if you want to know when the following article below:
- Melissa Gilbert Illness Negative COVID Test And Overcoming Health Challenges!!
- Are Kentucky Schools Closed Due To Illness COVID-19 And The Flu?
What Is Pneumonia?
The air sacs in the lungs get infected with fluid or pus due to pneumonia, as stated by the United States National Institutes of Health. The symptoms might be very minor, such as a cough with or without mucus, a high temperature, and chills, or they can be quite severe, such as difficulty breathing, depending on the causative agent.
According to Horn, bacteria and viruses are the leading causes of pneumonia. One of the most worrying is pneumonia brought on by Streptococcus pneumoniae, which can “spread outside of the lungs into other areas of the body, like the bloodstream and the brain.”
“Meningitis from Streptococcus pneumoniae is very serious, and one of the reasons for the vaccine in high-risk groups,” she says. “The vaccine isn’t just aimed at preventing pneumonia, but also preventing an infection from spreading.”
How To Diagnose Pneumonia?
If a doctor suspects a patient has COPD, he or she will do a physical exam and likely order additional diagnostic testing, such as a chest X-ray. Treatment for pneumonia will depend on the results of these tests.
Treatment For Pneumonia
When the illness is light, rest, food, drinks, and medicine are all that’s needed for a speedy recovery at home. Depending on the severity of the injury, it could take anywhere from a week to two weeks before the patient is back to normal functioning.
Antibiotics are effective against bacterial pneumonia. Your doctor may recommend antiviral drugs if your pneumonia is viral. Antifungal drugs are an option for treating pneumonia caused by fungi.
Symptoms like high temperature and sore muscles can be treated with over-the-counter medications. Before using any over-the-counter cold or cough medication for your pneumonia, talk to your doctor.
In some circumstances, hospitalization or intensive care unit treatment is necessary for pneumonia. Intravenous (IV) antibiotics or fluids, oxygen therapy, or mechanical ventilation may be necessary.
Does Pneumonia Become Worse?
Fortune talks to Dr. Clayton Cowl, a pulmonologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, on how pneumonia can harm more than just the lungs.
“Someone who becomes very ill with pneumonia may have fluid shifts and also have issues with their kidneys, liver, or heart,” he explains. In addition, bacterial pneumonia can lead to sepsis, a potentially fatal illness brought on by an infection that sets off a chain reaction throughout the body.
“It can cause a whole kind of downstream effect, a bucket brigade,” he says. It’s like watching a juggler spin glass plates with a pair of sticks. They can all go quickly if one of those sticks begins to sway and a plate falls.
Is There A Vaccine For Pneumonia?
In fact, there are two distinct varieties. However, children 4 and under, as well as those 65 and over, are the target demographics for these products. Individuals between these ages may be encouraged to get vaccinated if they have a preexisting medical condition, such as diabetes, heart disease, chronic lung disease, or immunodeficiency, that increases their risk of experiencing a devastating outcome.
