PNEUMONIA..

What is pneumonia?

Pneumonia is an infection of one or both lungs which is usually caused by bacteria, viruses, or fungi. Prior to the discovery of antibiotics, one-third of all people who developed pneumonia subsequently died from the infection. Currently, over 3 million people develop pneumonia each year in the United States. Over a half a million of these people are admitted to a hospital for treatment. Although most of these people recover, approximately 5% will die from pneumonia. Pneumonia is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States.
How do people "catch pneumonia"?

Some cases of pneumonia are contracted by breathing in small droplets that contain the organisms that can cause pneumonia. These droplets get into the air when a person infected with these germs coughs or sneezes. In other cases, pneumonia is caused when bacteria or viruses that are normally present in the mouth, throat, or nose inadvertently enter the lung. During sleep, it is quite common for people to aspirate secretions from the mouth, throat, or nose. Normally, the body's reflex response (coughing back up the secretions) and immune system will prevent the aspirated organisms from causing pneumonia. However, if a person is in a weakened condition from another illness, a severe pneumonia can develop. People with recent viral infections, lung disease, heart disease, and swallowing problems, as well as alcoholics, drug users, and those who have suffered a stroke or seizure are at higher risk for developing pneumonia than the general population.
Once organisms enter the lungs, they usually settle in the air sacs of the lung where they rapidly grow in number. This area of the lung then becomes filled with fluid and pus as the body attempts to fight off the infection.

What are pneumonia symptoms and signs?

Most people who develop pneumonia initially have symptoms of a cold which are then followed by a high fever (sometimes as high as 104 degrees Fahrenheit), shaking chills, and a cough with sputum production. The sputum is usually discolored and sometimes bloody. People with pneumonia may become short of breath. The only pain fibers in the lung are on the surface of the lung, in the area known as the pleura. Chest pain may develop if the outer pleural aspects of the lung are involved. This pain is usually sharp and worsens when taking a deep breath, known as pleuritic pain.
In other cases of pneumonia, there can be a slow onset of symptoms. A worsening cough, headaches, and muscle aches may be the only symptoms. In some people with pneumonia, coughing is not a major symptom because the infection is located in areas of the lung away from the larger airways. At times, the individual's skin color may change and become dusky or purplish (a condition known as "cyanosis") due to their blood being poorly oxygenated.
Children and babies who develop pneumonia often do not have any specific signs of a chest infection but develop a fever, appear quite ill, and can become lethargic. Elderly people may also have few symptoms with pneumonia.

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Depression: Is It Your Fault?

The Present

Depression can be a devastating experience. When it is at its height, a dark cloud seems to pervade one's being. Depression feels like a poison that seeps through a person's whole body, its steady onset irresistible. Where does it come from? The person afflicted may try valiantly to check its progress and yet it seems to advance with relentless strength. It may start in the head as a dark presence; it then moves to fill the whole body. When it has taken over completely, life hardly seems worth living. Who could go on in this condition?

What can a person do? Is it possible to adopt a way of thinking that will counter depression? How wonderful, if so. But if thinking will solve depression, was it incorrect or wrong thinking that caused the depression in the first place? If this is the case, then people must accept responsibility for their condition. How do you tell a person who is severely depressed that the dark, poisonous cloud within has come from habitual thought-patterns?

The modern view of depression is that it results from a chemical imbalance in the brain. Antidepressants, if taken in the right dosage over a period of time, allow the brain to be healed of this imbalance. But the question still remains: what causes the chemical imbalance? Thus far, no clear answer to this question has been given. Something has brought about a physical change in the brain that needs correcting. The fact that the cause of this change remains obscure may distress the person with depression. The explanation that the cause is a physical one may remove one terrible attendant feeling that the person may feel: guilt. If wrong thinking causes depression, then people must feel guilt over their contribution to their condition. Even if positive thinking holds out marvels of hope for the depressed individual, there always remains the fear that old patterns will recur again and bring on the depression. If depression is a physiological condition which has arisen from obscure causes, then the depressed person can put trust in a physical remedy, even though its action may prove somewhat slow.

In some cases a depression will suddenly lift. People carry on with their lives and return to their former selves. With no change in thought patterns, these individuals remain without depression. This feature of depression may support the view of it as a physiological condition. For some reason it is self-limiting. Mercifully it departs.


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The Past

What do we find about attitudes to mental illness or depression from the past? The early Greeks believed that all mental activity took place in the chest region. This region was an "open" one. The gods could easily influence the ways in which someone thought or felt. If someone was courageous, then the gods put in courage. If one behaved wisely, the gods gave wisdom. If one was foolish, the gods stole away the mind. It would seem that mental illness also resulted from the interference of the gods. The person was not responsible. The later Greeks and Romans also saw divine intervention as the cause of unusual behaviour. Again the individual was seen as a victim.

In the Bible the picture of mental illness is that it comes from possession by an evil spirit. Healing comes when this spirit is expelled. The individual is a victim of this spirit or spirits, sadly in need of help. Divine intervention was usually thought necessary for any cure. If the evil spirit was cast out, the person appeared quite normal.

In the middle ages one view of the soul was that it had three parts. The bodily portion (anima) was concerned with all bodily functions. The mind (animus) was the seat of conscious thought. The spirit (spiritus) was the deepest part of the soul. It was immortal and survived a person on death. Ideally, a person, prayer and meditation would keep the spirit in the best condition. Meditation, or thought upon holy subjects, would feed it positive thoughts. Prayer would allow it gradually to be filled with God. The spirit by nature was empty. A person could control the way in which it was filled.

Here we find an early example where people are held responsible for their inner nature. If the spirit is filled only with negative thoughts and evil ideas, then the individual will be in negative state. If, on the other hand, the person fills the spirit with good and holy thoughts, behaviour of a like nature will follow. The filling of the spirit with negative thoughts could also lead to mental illness.

As we move into modern times, we find a similar view of inner consciousness in Freud. He speaks of the superego, ego, and the id. The ego is the conscious mind; the id, that which is concerned with bodily functions. The superego is the conscience, or part of the mind concerned with morals and guilt. Freud places great emphasis on the subconscious. All the experiences that one has had, from childhood and beyond, have had an effect upon the subconscious. It has a powerful capacity for affecting behaviour. In this view the person's past greatly influences current actions. Something deep within people is the cause of their illness. Even if they are not responsible for negative experiences, they must somehow recognize them and, learning of them, overcome their effects. Rather like the Greeks the person is seen as a victim. Unlike the Greeks, Freud believed that people must bring about the removal of the negative themselves.


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The Future

Further research will be done on depression. Its insidious cause may be recognized. Perhaps someday it will be able to be prevented. Until this break-through occurs, the physiological explanation of depression seems most attractive and most merciful to the patient. Instead of burdening people with guilt over their "negative thinking", the route of medication brings hope. Medication takes time to work and the depression can be a lingering condition. But gradually light dawns and life once again has brightness.

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Depression in Women

Women experience depression about twice as often as men. Many hormonal factors may contribute to the increased rate of depression in women—particularly such factors as menstrual cycle changes, pregnancy, miscarriage, postpartum period, pre-menopause, and menopause. Many women also face additional stresses such as responsibilities both at work and home, single parenthood, and caring for children and for aging parents.

Many women are also particularly vulnerable after the birth of a baby. The hormonal and physical changes, as well as the added responsibility of a new life, can be factors that lead to postpartum depression in some women. While transient "blues" are common in new mothers, a full-blown depressive episode is not a normal occurrence and requires active intervention. Treatment by a sympathetic physician and the family's emotional support for the new mother are prime considerations in aiding her to recover her physical and mental well-being and her ability to care for and enjoy the infant.

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