{"id":7966,"date":"2016-01-30T07:36:21","date_gmt":"2016-01-30T13:36:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.senioradvisor.com\/blog\/?p=7966"},"modified":"2016-01-18T16:42:21","modified_gmt":"2016-01-18T22:42:21","slug":"pneumonia-in-the-elderly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/d30braiqprupoq.cloudfront.net\/blog\/2016\/01\/pneumonia-in-the-elderly\/","title":{"rendered":"Pneumonia in the Elderly"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pneumonia in the Elderly: What You Need to Know\"Pneumonia<\/h1>\n

No one actually likes going to the hospital. Being sick is bad enough, but getting sick to the point where you have to leave your own comfy bed to stay in a generic hospital room makes it all feel more dramatic. Making matters worse for seniors, <\/span>the combination of a weakened immune system and hospitalization can often mean pneumonia.<\/span><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, pneumonia falls into that category of illnesses that are inconvenient and unpleasant for everyone, but regularly cause far more serious consequences for seniors. Seniors are both more prone to pneumonia and at a greater risk of dying because of it. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Why Seniors Are Susceptible to Pneumonia<\/h2>\n

Pneumonia\u2019s very contagious, so it can often spread around assisted living or nursing home facilities quickly. In fact, it\u2019s the <\/span>second most common infection<\/a><\/strong> acquired in nursing homes. Pneumonia often attacks when someone\u2019s immune system is weakened by another illness and it very commonly goes hand in hand with the flu. Since seniors have weaker immune systems than younger adults, their risk of having other types of illnesses that help open the door to pneumonia is higher.<\/span><\/p>\n

Just as other health problems weaken your immune system and make you more susceptible to pneumonia, the pneumonia will weaken your immune system further, making you more sensitive to a host of other health issues. In addition, since seniors are <\/span>slower to show the typical symptoms<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0of pneumonia once they contract it, and less likely to recognize the symptoms as being specific to pneumonia, they\u2019re often not as quick to seek out treatment. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

All this adds up to very bad news for seniors. Death by pneumonia (often coupled with another physical ailment, or several) is common. You must take the proper precautions to make sure that your loved one increases their chances of ducking pneumonia altogether, or living through the illness if they get it.<\/span><\/p>\n

What You Can Do to Prevent Pneumonia<\/h2>\n

First things first: prevention. The ideal is to never get pneumonia to begin with, so everything you can do to help your loved one reduce their risk should be done. \u00a0Much of the list of steps you can take to help avoid pneumonia is familiar:<\/span><\/p>\n