Understanding Pneumonia: Its Symptoms, Prevention, Causes and Treatments, Part 2

Part One of this series dealt with pneumonia's several different causes and its various types. Part Two deals with treatment, prevention, and provides a look at pneumonia's worldwide significance and its place throughout history.

Treating the various kinds of pneumonia.

Effectively treating pneumonia depends to a certain degree upon containment: catching the inflammation while the infection of lung tissues is still relatively small. Other factors that bear heavily on treatment include the patient's age and history of respiratory disease, immune system strength, and overall physical condition. Put simply, healthy patients have a better chance of curbing the inflammation.

The different kinds of pneumonia require different types of treatment. Antibiotic medications will work on most kinds of bacterial and mycoplasma pneumonia, yet prove ineffective against viral strains. Doctors often take chest X-rays to examine the extent and severity of the pneumonia's damage to the lungs.

Most pneumonia patients are treated at home following an initial doctor's consultation. Proper bed rest, a healthy diet, and staying hydrated are all important factors in resisting symptoms and the underlying inflammation. Hospitalization may become necessary in extreme cases of impaired breathing or immune system depression.

Pneumonia presents potentially deadly complications.

Pneumonia is known to result in sometimes-deadly side effects. Complications commonly include:

- Bacteria infecting the bloodstream after passing through the lung's air sacs, resulting in a condition called bacteremia. Doctors can detect such occurrences with blood tests;

- Fluid accumulation around the lungs, which can hamper lung movement within the chest cavity. The fluid is often surgically drained;

- Lung abscesses, which form on the lung wall and become filled with pus. They're usually treated with antibiotics.

Preventing pneumonia in adults and children

A variety of vaccines and booster shots are available that work to resist bacterial and viral pneumonia infections. Besides the streptococcal vaccine, an immunization against pneumococcal pneumonia (another bacteria-based pneumonia) has also become available. Vaccination is not recommended for pregnant women or infants under the age of two.

Proper hygiene and health are strongly encouraged as pneumonia deterrents. Keeping hands sanitized will reduce the possibility of ingesting bacterial or viral agents.

Experts recommend careful vigilance of any other respiratory infection to make sure pneumonia doesn't follow in its wake, infecting the already-weakened respiratory system. Patients should take all prescribed medication, even after symptoms apparently subside, in order to completely remove all irritants from the lungs. A follow-up examination may also be necessary.

Pneumonia is a worldwide health concern.

According to the Mayo Clinic, more than 60,000 Americans die from pneumonia each year. Patients being treated in hospitals for even unrelated illnesses can sometimes contract a particularly virulent strain called nosocomial pneumonia. This type typically affects patients on respirators or who have suffered some form of esophageal reflux. It also affects those with kidney disorders, sickle cell anemia, diabetes, and some heart diseases.

Pneumonia poses its greatest risk to extended families and families struggling with poverty. The World Health Organization reports that one out of every three infant deaths is attributed to pneumonia, most commonly streptococcus pneumoniae. Ninety percent of infant pneumonial deaths take place in developing countries, where children often lack access to preventative or thereapeutic medications.

Men are more likely to contract pneumonia than women, and blacks are more susceptible than whites. Smokers and those with a history of alcoholism are also at increaed risk. Men and women over 65 years of age are more likely to develop pneumonia than others.

The history of pneumonia as a disease and its famous victims

Pneumonia as a respiratory disorder was first diagnosed by no less than Hippocrates, the father of all Western medicine, more than 2500 years ago. Prior to the introduction of antibiotics in the1930s, pneumonia was the leading cause of death in the United States. Extensive advances in antibiotic medications and vaccines, such as the ones mentioned above, have made prevention and treatment vastly more manageable. Nonetheless, pneumonia continues to pose a serious public and individual health threat.

In American history, a mixture of pneumonia and laryngitis struck down George Washington, the country's first president, after he spent several hours in damp, freezing temperatures but did not change from his wet clothes upon returning home. William Henry Harrison, the nation's 9th president, served for just thirty-one days (the shortest term of any U.S. president) before falling victim to pneumonia in 1841. It's believed he caught sick while standing in the rain during his outdoor inauguration.

Other famous Americans to die from pneumonia include Muppets creator Jim Henson, "the godfather of soul" James Brown, and movie star Fred Astaire.

Michael Kabel is senior staff writer for http://www.cornerstorkbabygifts.com. Stop by for parenting and baby resources, unique baby gifts, baby gift baskets and baby shower favors.