Pneumonia and its effect on the elderly

Pneumonia is an inflammation of lung tissue in either one or both lungs.

This is usually the result of an infection, where germs multiply and cause lung infections. This is more likely to happen if you are already frail or in poor health.This inflammation causes the alveoli (tiny air sacs in the lungs) to become full of fluid and as a result, the lungs struggle to work properly. In response, the brain sends white blood cells to the lungs to fight the infection, which helps kill the germs causing the infection, but also inhibits the passage of oxygen from the lungs into the bloodstream. Pneumonia is not the same as bronchitis, which is an inflammation or infection of the large airways, known as the bronchi It is possible to get bronchitis and pneumonia at the same time, known as bronchopneumonia.

What is the cause of pneumonia?

Pneumonia can be caused by various bacteria, viruses or fungi. The most common bacteria is called Streptococcus pneumonia. Pneumonia spreads via infection person to person, as it is an airborne infection. Pneumonia can develop from flu, particularly in the elderly and frail, as flu lowers the immune system.

How to recognise the symptoms of pneumonia?

If you have pneumonia, you will have similar symptoms to flu or a chest infection, but symptoms often develop more quickly. These will include:

1. High or very high temperature
2. Shivering and sweating
3. Coughing, which produces dark yellow or green phlegm, which can be flecked with blood.
4. Rapid breathing, which if too rapid, can be a sign of the severity of pneumonia
5. Disorientation and confusion
6. Sharp pain in the side of the chest, worse with deep breathing, which can mean that pleurisy has developed. (Pleurisy is when the thin outer covering of the lung becomes infected and inflamed by pneumonia)

If you or your elderly relative is suffering any of these symptoms, seek medical help immediately.

In addition to these groups, people who are in hospital for other problems sometimes develop pneumonia while they are there. This does not mean that the hospital is unhygienic, but that their resistance to the germs that can cause pneumonia has been weakened by their other medical problems.

How to prevent pneumonia

1. Don’t smoke! Smokers have an increased risk of developing pneumonia as well as other chest infections
2. Practise good hygiene to reduce the spread of germs: use a tissue when you cough or sneeze and dispose of it immediately and wash your hands regularly
3. Get a flu jab. It is available from your GP or many pharmacists. It is free for anyone over the age of 65.
4. You can vaccinate against older people against pneumonia. The pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPV), is available for people 65+ and anyone over the age of two who fall into a high-risk category. It is usually only needed as a one-off vaccine

How does a doctor diagnose pneumonia?

The doctor will diagnose pneumonia based on the symptoms described above, or if necessary, using a chest X-ray

How does a doctor treat pneumonia?

The main treatment for pneumonia is antibiotics

1. Get plenty of rest
2. Drink plenty of water
3. Painkillers will probably be prescribed to alleviate headache and other aching and pain
4. Some people with mild pneumonia manage at home with treatment from the GP
5. some need to go to hospital, where they will be given antibiotics and fluids intravenously by drip into a vein Oxygen may also be provided
6. Seriously ill patients who are struggling to breathe may be put on a ventilator, which moves air in and out of the  lungs if a person is unable to breathe normally

How long does it take to recover from pneumonia?

If pneumonia is mild, you might be ill for a week or so and slowly get back to normal., followed by a steady return to normal activity. Severe pneumonia requiring hospitalisation might take weeks or months to feel fully well again.Most people recover from pneumonia and return to good health, but between 5 – 14% of people who are admitted to hospital with pneumonia sadly die, many of them elderly.

You can find more information on pneumonia at the British Lung Foundation