Pneumonia is one such disease that can impact the function of your lungs. The number of patients getting pneumonia on a daily basis is increasing day by day. Now, pneumonia is one disease that is caused by an infection of the lungs. This happens usually due to bacteria.
Now, there is plenty of information available for everyone to study online and to know about pneumonia but there is a lot more available that is not true and is made up. It is very hard to decide what is true and what is not. The best pulmonologist in Lahore says that it is very important to study the facts and the myths along so that you can make a decision on your own.
Let’s have a look at the detailed myths and the truth attached to them.
Myth 1: Pneumonia is just a bad cold
Pneumonia obviously involves the cold when it occurs, but to say that it is just the cold happening to you is not true. Pneumonia is a proper infection of the lungs that require proper treatment which involves antibiotics and some other heavy medication.
Now, a common cold lasts not more than a week or two but it does cause a runny nose, sneezing, coughing, and a sore throat. All of this also occurs during pneumonia also, but the confusion lies when it gets mixed with a common cold. Common colds get better with time as the immune system starts to get strong naturally. Also, ignoring early signs of bacterial pneumonia is also equal to a death sentence.
So, if you ever feel like having a cold, then make sure you go to a doctor and get yourself checked for pneumonia.
Myth 2: Pneumonia occurs in cold seasons and in places
Although it is told to you a lot of times that you should wear a coat or cover yourself up when it is cold outside. But, the air temperature has very little impact on the bacteria causing pneumonia to spread from one person to another. In fact, it has been researched that most pneumonia cases occur in places where there is tropical weather.
Now, the root cause here is that in the winter season it is more likely for everyone to sit inside in gatherings. Now, this can have a huge impact on the spread of pneumonia, as it can transfer from one person to another in no time. Pneumonia thrives in tropical weather because of the nutrition that is poor in those areas. People usually live in areas where they stay indoors and there is a lot of pollution from the fire used to cook food.
So, avoid sitting in places where you are sitting too close to people and there is too much of a crowd.
Myth 3: Pneumonia can be treated but not prevented
Yes, there are a number of ways that can be used to treat pneumonia but with that, but there are more ways that can be used to prevent this condition from occurring. To prevent pneumonia, treatment with antibiotics can help a lot if the condition is caught before it spreads badly.
The best ways to prevent also include the breastfeeding phase of mothers for the first six months of birth. Ensuring proper hygiene and nutrition can play a huge part here. Alon with that, reducing the exposure to cigarettes and smoke can also prevent your children from getting affected by penumonia.
Myth 4: Healthy people cannot get affected by Pneumonia
While serious issues with pneumonia and deaths are more common in people that have a compromised immunity this never means pneumonia cannot impact healthy people.
The bacteria of pneumonia can enter anyone’s body and cause severe infection. But yes if your immunity is stronger, you can easily get through the tough phase of having pneumonia.
Myth 5: Only older people get affected by pneumonia
A lot of people think that pneumonia can only affect people of older age as they are thought to be weak. This is also believed as older people are more seen hospitalized due to pneumonia. It has been observed all over the world that the people that suffer from pneumonia are young children and they are more likely to be dying because of the disease.
Infants that have lower immunity are more likely to be at risk. This is often due to their weakened natural dense system against the infection. Due to this not-so-developed defense system in the body, the kids suffer a lot and can get ill chronically also due to lack of good nutrition.
Conclusion
Pneumonia is a bacterial infection caused in the lungs that causes issues with breathing and makes your lungs weak. There are a number of misconceptions about pneumonia that are spread around and are believed by people. So, this is why it is important to have proper knowledge about something before trying and believing the information about it.