KYJ29- Pneumonia
Back to basics with today's Knowing Your Jargon episode.
Many nurses have a skewed understanding of respiratory terminology and sometimes even the simplest terms can be misunderstood.
This episode looks at three common terms.
Pneumonia
Atelectasis
Consolidation
First let's review normal lungs.
Air is drawn in to our alveoli (the smallest single cell thick air sacs of our lungs). Inside each alveolus, exists two specialised lung cells (pneumocytes), the Type 1 and type 2 pneumocytes. Type 1 is squamous epithelium and literally forms the walls of the alveolus. Type 2, the Great Alveolar Cell, has the task of producing surfactant.
Surfactant lubricates the inside of alveoli. It is a soap like function lowers the surface tension on the wall of each alveolus, and in doing so, it allows the walls of a collapsed (empty) alveolus, to easily pop open with the next breath. It also serves a role in promoting gas exchange across the alveolar-vascular space (the gap between lung and blood).
Surfactant is produced from approx 36 weeks gestation, making the ventilation and gas exchange in preterm babies problematic.
Pneumonia is an absence of surfactant. And is a function of either no production or damage/disease to the Type 2 cell.
When a baby is born preterm, or a person has suffered an immersion (drowning), or, most commonly, they get a lower respiratory tract infection (chest infection), surfactant is reduced or absent. This loss is called Pneumonia.
Pneumonia (because of a surfactant loss) then causes the alveoli to collapse and stick shut. The term for this is atelectasis.
In multiple alveoli undergoing atelectasis, a segment of lung or a whole lobe of lung may be affected. This is termed segmental or lobar pneumonia, and frequently called consolidation. Eg Right lower lobe consolidation and right lower lobe pneumonia are one in the same.
In chest infections an inflammatory process causes pneumonia and the resulting bacterial or viral cell damage leads to a inflammatory mediated proliferation of white blood cells to flood the infected area to fight infection and mop up dead cells. This engorgement of blood converging on the infected tissue is called pneumonitis (literally inflammation of the lung).
Pneumonitis, like all inflammation, gives rise to capillary leakage. This exudate, and the dead bodies of bacteria or cellular debris is what we cough out as sputum.
Wow... We covered some jargon this episode. Don't forget to share the post and check all the posts out on the blog www.knowingyourjargon.blogspot.com
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KYJ not to be confused with KYJelly, but still lubricating the minds of the multitudes.
As a sign of gratitude for how my husband was saved from Pneumonia , i decided to reach out to those still suffering from this.
ReplyDeleteMy husband was diagnosed of Pneumonia in 2013 and it was really tough and heartbreaking for me because he was my all and the symptoms were terrible, he always have headaches , and he always complain of sore throat . we tried various therapies prescribed by our neurologist but none could cure him. I searched for a cure and i saw a testimony by someone who was cured and so many other with similar body problem, and he left the contact of the doctor who had the cure to Pneumonia . I never imagined Pneumonia has a natural cure not until i contacted him and he assured me my husband will be fine. I got the herbal medication he recommended and my husband used it and in one months he was fully okay even up till this moment he is so full of life. Pneumonia has a cure and it is a herbal cure contact the doctor for more info on drwilliams098675@gmail.com on how to get the medication. Thanks admin for such an informative blog.