Pneumonia or pneumonia is a viral disease that affects the lung tissue and interferes with the normal exchange of oxygen between air and blood. Inflammatory secretions that enter the alveoli do not allow the body to receive a sufficient amount of oxygen. And if the disease affects most of the lungs, acute respiratory failure develops.
Pneumonia affects people with weak immune systems, children and the elderly. Every year in Russia alone, 1.5 million people suffer from the disease, and 30% of them are young children and people over 70 years of age.
But pneumonia can and should be treated! And it is recommended to do this using an integrated approach. Treatment of any disease begins with a correct diagnosis. Therefore, at the first signs of the development of pathology, seek the advice of a specialist.
What are the first symptoms of pneumonia, how to approach treatment correctly and comprehensively, and what is required to diagnose the disease, we will tell you in this article.
Causes of pneumonia
Pneumonia develops when bacteria and viruses, as well as foreign agents, enter the lungs and affect part or all of the lung tissue. Pathological agents enter the human body through the respiratory route, and rarely through the blood.
Why does the disease develop quickly in the body of a person with reduced immunity? Bacteria are constantly present in our body, but protective mechanisms do not allow them to multiply, causing pathology. But if the immune system is weakened, harmful microflora increases in population, which leads to the appearance of an inflammatory process.
Viral pneumonia also often develops against the background of the spread of colds of the upper respiratory tract (bronchitis, tracheitis). Pneumonia can also be caused by hypothermia, stress, overwork, or smoking abuse. The risk of developing the disease increases in people with chronic diseases and obesity.
Features of different types of disease
There are several forms of pneumonia, each of which is characterized by a specific clinical picture and severity of symptoms.
- Acute form. It begins suddenly (sometimes symptoms develop over several hours) with high fever, severe chills and cough, weakness, and sometimes confusion. With timely diagnosis, it responds well to treatment, but if left untreated, it causes serious complications.
- Chronic pneumonia. In this form, the causative agent of the disease and the source of inflammation are constantly present in the body and manifest themselves under favorable conditions (weakened immunity, hypothermia, etc.). During the period of remission, patients feel normal, but during exacerbations, symptoms reminiscent of classic pneumonia develop. Most often, the chronic form of the disease is observed in smokers and people with reduced immunity.
- Croupous form. It affects most of the lung, and, in addition to symptoms from the respiratory system and fever, can cause pain in the side, redness of the skin in the neck and blue discoloration of the nasolabial triangle; with severe intoxication, loss of consciousness and delirium occur.
- Focal inflammation. The lesions are localized in individual segments of the lungs and respiratory tract, the symptoms are not as pronounced as with the lobar form - low-grade fever, cough (first dry, then wet), weakness and apathy are observed.
Signs of pneumonia in an adult
When the disease appears, a person’s body temperature rises, which can reach 38°, there is general weakness throughout the body, a headache, the patient wants to lie down and relax. After a few days, a strong paroxysmal cough appears and sputum appears.
Pain in the chest, especially at the site of inflammation, as well as the appearance of shortness of breath indicate the seriousness of the situation and clearly indicate pneumonia.
General signs are listed here, but the nature and timing of their manifestation may differ depending on the type of pneumonia. With viral pneumonia, the first symptoms appear quickly and the patient feels a sharp deterioration in health. From the very beginning of the disease, muscle pain, high body temperature, severe headache, and a painful dry cough are observed.
Bacterial pneumonia, on the contrary, develops gradually. The disease begins only 2 weeks after the first symptoms appear. After this, there is a sharp relief, an improvement in the general condition of the patient, then the temperature rises sharply again, a headache occurs, the cough intensifies, and purulent sputum appears.
One of the serious types of the disease is atypical bilateral pneumonia, which extensively affects the lung tissue and develops respiratory failure. In terms of its symptoms, bilateral pneumonia resembles a cold viral infection, and the characteristic wheezing is not yet heard in the lungs. Many begin to treat themselves, which aggravates the condition.
At first, the sick person thinks that his condition has improved, the symptoms of the pathology begin to go away. But then the cough worsens and the second wave of the disease begins.
Symptoms may vary slightly in older people. First of all, a dry cough and shortness of breath appear during minor physical exertion on the body or even at rest. Often the disease occurs without fever in older people.
Symptoms for which you need to call a doctor
A doctor should be called to your home if the following symptoms appear:
- The cough started to go away, but then suddenly got worse.
- Breathing became faster and shortness of breath appeared.
- When you take a deep breath, you experience chest pain.
- The sputum is yellow, green, or brown.
- The body temperature is not reduced by medications and remains at 38 degrees and above.
- The skin turns pale.
The reason to call a specialist should be a combination of 3 or more symptoms.
Is pneumonia contagious?
The inflammatory process in the pulmonary system most often appears due to the multiplication of the virus and as a complication of influenza or acute respiratory viral infection. In such cases, it is impossible to get sick from pneumonia itself, but it is easy to catch the disease that became the root cause. That is, pneumonia itself is not contagious, and the development of inflammation in the lungs is an independent complication that arose against the background of a weakened immune system and improper self-medication.
How is pneumonia transmitted?
The disease can be transmitted in different ways, including:
- Airborne method. During the disease, droplets form on the mucous membrane of the mouth and nose, which spread through the air during sneezing and coughing. You can become infected by airborne droplets in any public place: hospital, store, public transport. The pathogenic agent spreads through the air along with particles of mucus, sputum, and saliva.
- Contact. The infection is also transmitted through contact - shaking hands, hugging, kissing. People become infected when they touch contaminated objects or when they touch their mouth, eyes, or nose with dirty hands.
- Domestic. The infection can be transmitted through shared towels, dishes and bedding. Therefore, the patient needs to be provided with personal hygiene items, and, if possible, change and wash them more often.
- Fecal. The virus survives up to two days in fecal matter with normal bowel movements. You can easily acquire the disease from improper toilet cleaning or personal hygiene. To prevent infection, especially from young children, it is important to constantly wash your hands after cleaning the child's potty, change diapers frequently and thoroughly wash the area where bowel movements occur.
However, personal hygiene items must be handled very carefully. It has been proven that the viral microorganism can survive up to 4 hours on any surface. Morbid bacteria are not afraid of frost; even with bleach it can be destroyed only five minutes after direct treatment.
Pneumonia and bronchitis: what is the difference?
Both diseases affect the human respiratory system, which means they have similar symptoms. It is often difficult to distinguish the two pathologies from each other.
| Pneumonia | Bronchitis |
| In most cases, it is accompanied by a sharp increase in temperature to 38-39° and a feverish state. There is a slight increase in temperature. | Accompanied by a strong dry cough. In some cases, sputum may appear greenish or streaked with blood. Wet cough, sputum is light in color. |
| When listening to the chest, “wet” rales are heard. | When listening to the chest, “dry” wheezing is heard. |
Symptoms for which you need to call an ambulance
You need to call an ambulance in the following cases:
- Consciousness is confused, the patient is delirious, and his coordination is impaired.
- Breathing is heavy, rapid.
- The upper pressure drops below 90 mm. Hg Art.
- The lower pressure dropped to 60 mm. Hg Art.
If a person has at least 1-2 of the signs listed, it is necessary to call a medical team. Pneumonia is regarded as severe if the patient is exhausted, suffers from alcoholism, diabetes, brain pathologies, and chronic lung diseases. An aggravating factor is age over 60 years.
How is pneumonia diagnosed?
If a child suffers from the disease, you should seek examination from a pediatrician. If you are an adult, make an appointment with a therapist who will refer you to a specialist if necessary. The doctor will conduct an external examination, collect anamnesis, study the medical history and learn about the symptoms of the disease.
You will be sent for laboratory tests:
- General blood analysis;
- General urine analysis;
- Sputum analysis is carried out to determine the inflammatory process in the body, as well as the causative agent of pneumonia and its sensitivity to antibiotics.
Among the diagnostic research methods you will be prescribed:
- Chest X-ray - shadows appear in the images in areas of tissue damage;
- Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging are used as additional measures when other methods do not allow an accurate diagnosis.
Breathing exercises
To prevent pneumonia
Today, the prevention of pneumonia is one of the most important in the complex of health practices and care for the condition of the human body. It has become obvious that lung damage is a real threat, much more widespread and urgent than it seemed to many of us just recently. The coronavirus pandemic has made adjustments not only to our way of life, but has also made it extremely important to take care of our respiratory system and its healthy and complete state.
One of the most effective ways to prevent pneumonia is regular breathing training with the Samozdrav simulator. And there are justified reasons for this and many years of indisputable evidence.
Breathing exercises strengthen the respiratory muscles, which increases the mobility of the chest and diaphragm. Effective movements of the respiratory muscles increase the volume of the chest and lungs. This ensures maximum pulmonary ventilation and air circulation in the alveoli and increases the utilization rate of oxygen in the lungs and its delivery to the tissues.
Maintaining normal lung volumes and regular training of the respiratory muscles forms the correct respiratory rhythm. As a result of this, the respiratory rate, its minute volume and other indicators that are disturbed due to stress, physical inactivity, and chronic diseases are normalized. Physiologically correct breathing is maintained for a long time.
Breathing exercises maintain the elasticity of the lung tissue. This increases the vital capacity of the lungs and prevents the development of fibrosis and other changes in the lung tissue. CO2 eliminates bronchospasm, which also increases breathing efficiency.
Breathing training increases the efficiency of the pulmonary circulation. This is especially important for older people, because one of the common causes of pneumonia in the elderly is stagnation of blood in the small circle.
As a result of restoration of the functions of the respiratory system and blood circulation, the inflammatory process is reduced, congestion in the bronchi and lungs is prevented, and mucus and exudate are reabsorbed.
In addition, Samozdrav compensates for the lack of physical activity, and breathing training, like physical exercise, promotes the production of a natural antioxidant (superoxide dismutase), which prevents the development of pneumonia.
All these arguments are the result of numerous in-depth studies related to the study of the effect of breathing training with Samozdrav on human lungs and the prevention of pneumonia, as well as the experience of people of different ages and different levels of health.
Today, millions of people from around the world train with Samozdrav to prevent the development of pneumonia - one of the main dangers to the body during a pandemic.
If you want to get one of the most effective ways to take care of your respiratory system, an indispensable assistant for the prevention of pneumonia, purchase the Samozdrav breathing simulator. Years of experience have proven its effectiveness, accessibility and the highest results in maintaining lung health.
For rehabilitation after pneumonia
During a difficult period of threats of a high viral load on the body, it is important to know how to quickly get back into shape after pneumonia and allow your lungs to work at full strength again. Firstly, it is important to follow the general rules of caring for yourself and your health. Sleep at least 8 hours at night and a couple of hours during the day, eat well, not forgetting vitamins A, B, C and calcium, ventilate the room every three hours.
Particular attention should be paid to your lungs, devoting time to breathing exercises to improve pulmonary circulation and strengthen the pulmonary muscles. Through breathing training with the Samozdrav simulator, exudate will be absorbed, sputum separation will be facilitated, the airways will be cleared, lung tissue will remain healthy and elastic, tissue metabolism will be normalized and intoxication that accompanies the acute stage of the disease will be eliminated. Healthy breathing and normal inspiratory volume will be restored, shortness of breath will go away due to the normalization of oxygen levels in the body,
In the process of breathing training with the Samozdrav simulator, rehabilitation after pneumonia will be successful, it will be quick and comfortable, and you will be able to regain your vital energy in a natural way - by training through correct and healthy breathing.
Methods for treating pneumonia
If pneumonia is bacterial in nature, antibiotics are prescribed. Their effectiveness can be assessed after 48-72 hours. If the temperature subsides, the cough becomes less frequent, and the patient begins to feel better, the treatment continues. You cannot interrupt the course of medications, and it is important to take them correctly as prescribed by your doctor. If antibiotics do not help, another treatment is prescribed or changed to a drug from another group.
For viral pneumonia, antibiotics are not effective, so antiviral drugs are prescribed. Vitamins and immunomodulators can be prescribed as auxiliary substances.
Once the patient's body temperature has returned to normal, physical therapy can be prescribed. It allows you to remove phlegm from the lungs. For this purpose, herbal medicines are often taken, for example, licorice root or complex breast mixtures.
Along with drug treatment, patients need bed rest, meals containing protein and vitamins, and plenty of warm drinks. For the best effect, therapeutic methods are recommended - electrophoresis, inhalation, massage, magnetic therapy, etc.
Forecast
With timely treatment and proper treatment, the prognosis for pneumonia is favorable. In 80% of cases, absolute recovery of lung tissue is observed. This occurs for several months after the end of therapy.
The main thing is to take antibiotics. The intestinal flora recovers on its own after taking medications; in rare cases, it will require the use of medications.
If the treatment does not correspond to the patient’s condition, is formulated incorrectly, or there is immunodeficiency, death is possible.
