Can Non-Walking Pneumonia Go Away On Its Own?
Non-walking pneumonia refers to a more serious type, while “walking” refers to a less threatening type that some people claim has gone away without treatment.
If you don’t treat the so-called non-walking pneumonia, can it resolve on its own?
“No, it can’t,” says Susan L. Besser, MD, with Mercy Medical Center, Baltimore, and Diplomate American Board of Obesity Medicine and board certified by the American Board of Family Medicine.
“In this case the pneumonia is due to a bacterial infection and antibiotics are needed to treat it,” explains Dr. Besser.
“The difference in terminology is colloquial. ‘Walking’ pneumonia implies it is less severe and treatable as an outpatient (oral antibiotics).
“‘Non-walking’ pneumonia is more severe and requires hospitalization for supportive care (usually oxygen therapy and IV antibiotics). Medical professionals don’t use this terminology, by the way.”
What about “regular” pneumonia?
Dr. Besser exlains, “‘Regular’ pneumonia is also colloquial, but I suspect it refers to the more standard bacterial types as opposed to unusual causes (such as unusual bacteria or a mass in the lung that causes a portion of the lung to be blocked which causes bacteria to grow in that area without being able to be cleared).”
Don’t get caught up with terminology. If you suspect pneumonia, get to the emergency room where antibiotics can be started immediately after the diagnosis.
Vital Tips
• Be leery of the validity of people who claim to have gotten rid of their pneumonia without treatment. It’s possible that they were misdiagnosed, since pneumonia on a chest X-ray can resemble less serious conditions.
• A person can have pneumonia without having a frequent cough.
• This infection can turn very ugly rapidly after festering at a lower level for days.
• Just because aspirin may make the fever of pneumonia disappear doesn’t mean that aspirin is effective at killing off the infection!
• Treatment for this common killer is very effective when administered in a timely fashion, but futile when the patient gets to the emergency room too late.
• The time for ER treatment is before the infection has taken an abrupt turn for the worse.
Early intervention is crucial to prevent complications and manage the condition effectively.
If symptoms such as severe chest pain, difficulty breathing or high fever persist or escalate, it’s essential to seek prompt medical attention.
Timely treatment can help mitigate the risk of severe outcomes and facilitate a more effective recovery.
Dr. Besser provides comprehensive family care, treating common and acute primary conditions like diabetes and hypertension. Her ongoing approach allows her the opportunity to provide accurate and critical diagnoses of more complex conditions and disorders.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
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Top image: ©Lorra Garrick
Can Low Thyroid Cause Shortness of Breath or Is It Mental ?
Do you feel short of breath lately and wonder if it’s a low thyroid causing this or all in your head, even though you have not been diagnosed with hypothyroidism? (more…)
Can Leg Edema Cause a Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) ?
Edema in the legs is the result of a process that involves the veins, and a DVT is also the result of a process that involves the veins.
So how likely, then, can having edema in the legs cause a deep vein thrombosis?
“No, edema cannot cause a DVT,” says Susan L. Besser, MD, with Mercy Medical Center, Baltimore, and Diplomate American Board of Obesity Medicine and board certified by the American Board of Family Medicine.
Dr. Besser adds, “A DVT is due to a blood clot within a vein. Edema of the leg is due to excess fluid in the tissue of the leg but not in the vessels.”
So how, then, are veins associated with the buildup of this excess fluid?
In the case of congestive heart failure, which is very common all over the world, the heart fails to pump an adequate amount of blood throughout the body.
Veins transport used (de-oxygenated) blood back to the lungs for re-oxygenation, where it then goes to the heart to be pumped out again. The veins in your legs and elsewhere in the body have this job.
In congestive heart failure, things get backed up, or congested. This backup causes the returning blood flow, from the veins in the legs, to become backed up. Excess fluid results, but it makes its way into the tissue around these veins.
Another common cause of leg edema is excessive sitting. Though excessive sitting increases the risk of a DVT, this higher risk is not induced by way of the edema.
Rather, it’s induced by the prolonged pooling of the blood (from too many hours sitting) in the veins.
High sodium intake in salt-sensitive people is another cause of edema in the legs. But again, this does not affect the clotting factor of venous blood.
Causes and Increased Risk Factors for DVT
• Not edema
• Lack of exercise, sedentary lifestyle
• Obesity, even a moderate degree of overweight
• Prolonged immobility during air and vehicular travel
• Excessive bed rest
• Recent surgery, especially abdominal or joint replacement
• Smoking or chewing tobacco
• Pregnancy — current
• The “sitting disease”
Dr. Besser provides comprehensive family care, treating common and acute primary conditions like diabetes and hypertension. Her ongoing approach allows her the opportunity to provide accurate and critical diagnoses of more complex conditions and disorders.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
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Top image: Shutterstock/futurewalk
Benign Causes of Both Ankles Being Swollen & Puffy and Treatment
You can’t always tell by simply looking at your swollen puffy ankles if the cause is serious or benign.
If you’re worried about the bilateral swelling in your ankles, especially if it seems to be getting worse (do you use a tape measure?), then a visit to the doctor is in order. (more…)
Why Is Hand Grip Strength Linked to Heart Health?
It’s no secret in the medical world that hand grip strength is associated with heart health, cardiac events and death.
You may be wondering what on earth does hand grip strength have to do with heart health. Keep reading… (more…)
Treating Pneumonia in the Elderly with Heart Failure
Here’s what you need to know about treatment if your elderly family member is diagnosed with pneumonia but has pre-existing heart failure.
Pre-existing heart failure poses a significant risk of higher mortality when such patients acquire pneumonia. (more…)
Why Chronic Heart Failure Patients Should Exercise the Legs
Exercised legs are very important for chronic heart failure patients.
Don’t assume that legs don’t matter just because they’re far from the heart. (more…)
Should Patient with Acute Heart Failure Receive IV Fluids?
If a doctor didn’t order IV fluids for a patient with acute decompensated heart failure, this was probably a very smart move…
even though it would seem—from an intuitive standpoint—that IV fluids would be beneficial. (more…)
How Much Weight Gain Can Cause Future Heart Failure?
Gaining weight over time can put you at risk for future heart failure.
The “fat acceptance” subset of the body positive movement needs to understand this.
Chronic heart failure should never be an “accepted” disease.
Weight Gain over Time, not Weight Loss, Is Tied to Heart Failure
A study took a look at 1,262 adults with a mean age of 44, and 36 percent of them were obese.
The study (Journal of the American Heart Association, July 2017) revealed that even small amounts of weight gain over time are associated with heart failure.
Weight LOSS over a period of time is not correlated to heart failure.
With study results such as these, how can anyone in the bopo movement believe that being overweight isn’t an independent risk factor for heart problems?
The Study and Its Results
• The adults were followed for seven years.
• At the study’s beginning, the participants were free of heart disease and factors that would put them at high risk for heart disease.
• At the start, and then seven years later, they had MRIs of their hearts and several body fat measurements.
• Weight gain of even five percent meant an increased likelihood of thickening and enlargement of the heart’s left ventricle—a harbinger of future heart failure.
• A small weight gain also meant a higher chance of having very mild reductions in the heart’s pumping action.
• A small weight gain also meant a greater chance of change in heart muscle function and appearance – even after variables were adjusted for, such as high blood pressure, smoking, drinking and diabetes.
• Subjects who had lost weight were more likely to have decreases in heart muscle thickness.
• Body weight at the start of the study had no meaningful relevance to any of the heart changes down the road.
• A limitation of the study was its small size. The study authors affirm that the results do not mean that everyone who gains weight after middle age will get heart failure.
But why take a chance?
How to Stave off Weight Gain in Middle Age
I used to be a personal trainer and worked with many middle aged clients who did not want to keep gaining weight.
Though some cited aesthetic reasons, some also cited heart health as a motivation to prevent weight gain.
Strength training is imperative for preventing weight gain. It’s crucial to retain and even add some lean muscle, since muscle is the body’s metabolic furnace.
“Excess” skeletal muscle is far better for the heart and overall health than is excess visceral fat — the kind that engulfs the organs, including the heart.
Adding lean muscle mass through strength training will go a long way at preventing weight gain in middle age, and it’s never too early to start a strength training program.
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified through the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained women and men of all ages for fat loss, muscle building, fitness and improved health.
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Top image: ©Lorra Garrick
Source: sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/07/170719173722.htm
Heart Failure Deaths vs. Death from Cancer
It’s odd that with all the people so afraid of dying from cancer, these same individuals often don’t give heart failure a second thought.
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