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Pneumonia

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Pneumonia is an inflammatory illness of the lung. Frequently, it is described as lung parenchyma/alveolar inflammation and abnormal alveolar filling with fluid (consolidation and exudation).

The alveoli are microscopic air-filled sacs in the lungs responsible for absorbing oxygen. Pneumonia can result from a variety of causes, including infection with bacteria, viruses, fungi, or parasites, and chemical or physical injury to the lungs. Its cause may also be officially described as idiopathic—that is, unknown—when infectious causes have been excluded.

Typical symptoms associated with pneumonia include cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty in breathing. Diagnostic tools include x-rays and examination of the sputum. Treatment depends on the cause of pneumonia; bacterial pneumonia is treated with antibiotics.

Pneumonia is a common illness which occurs in all age groups, and is a leading cause of death among the elderly and people who are chronically and terminally ill. Additionally, it is the leading cause of death in children under five years old worldwide. Vaccines to prevent certain types of pneumonia are available. The prognosis depends on the type of pneumonia, the appropriate treatment, any complications, and the person's underlying health.

For more information about Pneumonia, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with pneumonia


Toward a fast, accurate urine test for pneumonia

Fast, accurate urine test for pneumonia possible, study finds

Medicine & Health / Research

created Dec 09, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Doctors may soon be able to quickly and accurately diagnose the cause of pneumonia-like symptoms by examining the chemicals found in a patient's urine, suggests a new study led by UC Davis biochemist Carolyn ...


What's in health care proposals for 5 Americans (AP)

What's in health care proposals for 5 Americans

Medicine & Health / Health

created Dec 20, 2009 | popularity 2 / 5 (1) | comments 17

(AP) -- As Congress gets closer to a final health care bill, many Americans want to know: What's in it for me?





Search results for pneumonia


Pollution linked to hospitalizations for pneumonia in older adults

Medicine & Health / Health

created Dec 23, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Older adults with long-term exposure to higher levels of pollution are at higher risk for hospitalization for pneumonia, according to researchers in Canada.


New, virulent strain of MRSA poses renewed antibiotic resistance concerns

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Dec 22, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

The often feared and sometimes deadly infections caused by MRSA - methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus - are now moving out of hospitals and emerging as an even more virulent strain in community settings and on ath ...


First immunological clue to why some H1N1 patients get very ill or die

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Dec 15, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

An international team of Canadian and Spanish scientists have found the first potential immunological clue of why some people develop severe pneumonia when infected by the pandemic H1N1 virus.


26 operations, 13 kidneys: hope to few with little (AP)

26 operations, 13 kidneys: hope to few with little

Medicine & Health / Other

created Dec 14, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

(AP) -- Twenty-six operations put healthy kidneys into 13 desperately ill people: Doctors in the nation's capital just performed a record-setting kidney swap, part of a pioneering effort to expand transplants ...


Soldiers get mass swine flu shots before holidays (AP)

Soldiers get mass swine flu shots before holidays

Medicine & Health / Health

created Dec 11, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(AP) -- Thousands of Army recruits in training must line up at least once more before heading home for the holidays, this time for mass inoculations by the hundreds against swine flu.


CDC: About 1 in 6 Americans have had swine flu (Update)

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Dec 10, 2009 | popularity 2 / 5 (5) | comments 0

(AP) -- Swine flu has sickened about 50 million Americans, and killed about 10,000, according to new estimates released by federal health officials on Thursday.


Why does percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy fail to eliminate gastroesophageal reflux?

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Dec 08, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Gastroesophageal reflux (GER) is a common problem in mechanically ventilated patients and contributes to the development of esophageal mucosal injury and even erosive esophagitis. The relationship between percutaneous endoscopic ...


British researchers: little evidence Tamiflu works

Medicine & Health / Medications

created Dec 08, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(AP) -- British researchers say there is little evidence Tamiflu stops complications in healthy people who catch the flu, though public health officials contend the swine flu drug reduces flu hospitalizations and deaths.


Self-destructing bacteria improve renewable biofuel production

Self-destructing bacteria improve renewable biofuel production

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Dec 08, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (4) | comments 4

(PhysOrg.com) -- An Arizona State University research team has developed a process that removes a key obstacle to producing lower-cost, renewable biofuels. The team has programmed a photosynthetic microbe ...


New York autopsies show 2009 H1N1 influenza virus damages entire airway

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Dec 07, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

In fatal cases of 2009 H1N1 influenza, the virus can damage cells throughout the respiratory airway, much like the viruses that caused the 1918 and 1957 influenza pandemics, report researchers from the National Institutes ...



List of search results for pneumonia