Pneumonia – 4 Essential Questions You Should Ask Your Doctor
If you have been diagnosed with pneumonia, you may wish to consider asking your physician some questions. But first, let's go over some basic information about the condition.
Pneumonia is essentially an inflammatory condition of the lungs where the alveoli (or tiny air sacs at the ends of bronchioles where exchange of gases takes place) are affected and filled with fluid. Pneumonia can be caused by virus, bacteria, fungus or parasites.
Details on aspiration pneumonia may be found at the following links:
• Aspiration Pneumonia: The 5 Questions You Should Be Asking Your Doctor - http://bit.ly/bVPyFl
• Aspiration Pneumonia: 6 More Questions You Should Be Asking Your Doctor - http://bit.ly/aTusm6
• Aspiration Pneumonia : http://bit.ly/dmIdlA
Details on atypical pneumonia may be had from the following links:
• Atypical Pneumonia: 4 Questions For Your Doctor – http://bit.ly/cxBR8q
• Atypical Pneumonia: 4 More Questions For Your Doctor - http://bit.ly/bWqEGK
Now, onto the questions:
1. My report diagnoses me with bacterial pneumonia. Could you explain what this is?
It is possible that you inhaled airborne droplets containing any of the various types of pneumonia bacteria, which found their way to your lung or lungs. Once in the lungs, the bacteria settle in the alveoli and in the intra-cellular spaces. Your immune system then springs into action and releases both neutrophils and cytokines. The neutrophils aim to wall-off the pneumococcal bacteria and kill them. However, the neutrophils, bacteria, and fluid from surrounding blood vessels fill the alveoli and inhibit the transportation of oxygen. The cytokines are proteins secreted by immune system cells that carry messages and signals between cells. Cytokine release triggers symptoms of fever, lethargy, etc.
Bacteria known to cause pneumonia are:
• Streptococcus pneumoniae
• Staphylococcus aureus
• Streptococcus agalactiae
• Haemophilus influenzae
• Klebsiella pneumoniae
• Escherichia coli
• Pseudomonas aeruginosa
• Moraxella catarrhalis
• Chlamydophila pneumoniae
• Mycoplasma pneumoniae
• Legionella pneumophila
We value and respect the experiences of all of our HERWriters, but everyone is different. Many of our writers are speaking from personal experience, and what's worked for them may not work for you. Their articles are not a substitute for medical advice although we hope you can gain knowledge from their insight.
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