Essay example: Preventing pneumonia

RISK FACTORS

Although pneumonia affects all persons of all age groups, there are other factors, especially among the older people that contribute to an increased risk to acquiring pneumonia. They are:

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1. Age for persons who are above the age of 65 years or older, the risk increases especially in a circumstance where other diseases are challenging the person.
2. Specific medical conditions- where a person is suffering from other diseases like HIV/AIDS, lung diseases, cancer, diabetes and other lung diseases, they increase the risk for such a person to suffer from pneumonia.
3. Abusing alcohol and smoking- is also a factor that increases the risk of suffering from pneumonia because when a person smokes, he/ she destroys their lungs with the harmful smoke thus making the body prone to suffer from pneumonia same case with abuse of alcohol.
4. Exposure to specific chemicals and pollutants - those people working in agriculture, construction and around specific chemicals in industries the risk of suffering from pneumonia increases because the chemicals cause pulmonary infection which causes difficulty to clear the respiratory system thus causing the person to suffer from pneumonia.
5. Surgery, traumatic injury and hospitalization in the ICU- if a person suffers a serious injury, they have a challenge trying to cough to clear the lungs thus accumulating of mucus in the lungs that contribute to pneumonia which is also the same case when it comes to being admitted in the ICU Zagaria (2010).

SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF PNEUMONIA

In a medical clinic, the very basic signs of pneumonia are fever, coughing and producing sputum which is often unclear since they are common in especially older patients not only of those suffering from pneumonia. For elder persons, the most evident features of pneumonia are a sudden change in functional status, reduction of appetite, a state of confusion, frequent urination, and falls. There are other features that are other features which are less common but more frequent are chest pains, coughs, fever, and leukocytosis. The X-ray normally shows the diagnosis but not the cause of the condition. Cacciatore et al (2017).

HOW PNEUMONIA CAN BE PREVENTED

After analyzing the risk factors, signs and symptoms of pneumonia, it is important that a discussion of how people especially the older persons can protect themselves from suffering from pneumonia. They can do so using the methods that will be discussed below.

The first is to avoid smoking - when a person smokes; they destroy the lungs thus making a person susceptible to diseases like pneumonia since the lungs are not able to fight diseases. To be safe, a person especially the older persons should try as much as they can to quit or not smoke at all to prevent the risk of acquiring pneumonia.

Being immunized especially the parents and older loved ones - having these people immunized will help to reduce the risk of suffering from pneumonia which mostly affects these people at their old age. With proper care and necessary actions, pneumonia can be prevented among the old.

Knowing the basic signs and symptoms of pneumonia - when a person is aware of the symptoms to look for when a person is suffering from conditions shoe, then they are able to detect it at an early stage before the disease affects the person to an extent that they cannot recover. It is therefore important for people to be familiar with the symptoms.

Proper hygiene- the disease is spread through poor hygiene practices because it is a respiratory infection. People should always ensure that their hands are kept clean and for the older persons, it is important that we always keep them away from people who are infected.

Lastly, it is important that we practice healthy practices - ensuring that we take the proper diets to ensure that our bodies are in good health and that they are able to maintain the good condition for a long period of time such that an disease that a person can easily recover from doe not affect us to a point where recovery becomes a challenge to our bodies. Physical exercise and resting should also be included in order to maintain a very healthy body Stevenson (2018).

In conclusion, it is important that all that people are told regarding the protection from diseases and ways which they can be treated be considered most. All persons should be careful regarding how they practice their hygiene and healthy living standards. Being serious on protecting even the old persons and educating them on the factors that cause pneumonia will help to prevent them from suffering from pneumonia thus reducing the number of people suffering from pneumonia.

References

Cacciatore et al (2017) "Pneumonia and Hospitalizations in the Elderly" accessed on 28th December 2018 from https://www.pagepressjournals.org/index.php/gc/article/view/6377/6554#toc

Zagaria M (2010) "Preventing Pneumonia in seniors" accessed on 28th December 2018 fromhttps://www.uspharmacist.com/article/preventing-pneumonia-in-seniors

Stevenson S (2018) "5 Ways to Prevent Pneumonia in the Elderly" accessed on 28th December 2018 from https://www.aplaceformom.com/blog/2013-12-2-prevent-pneumonia-in-elderly/