The Most Common Causes of Pulmonary Edema and Its Prevention

One should know what his or her problem is before looking for solution elsewhere. The physician’s inquiry is to know what the problem of the patient is and then go on to determine the degree of the problem. It is always better to at least know some about your own health. Doctors are able to help patients who have an idea about their condition faster than those who don’t know anything about their conditions. We must all endeavor to know a little about our health.
Pulmonary edema is the accumulation of tissue fluids in the lungs. It occurs in the way that edema occurs elsewhere in the body. Any factor that causes the pulmonary interstitial fluid pressure to rise from the negative range into the positive range will cause sudden filling of the pulmonary interstitial spaces and alveoli with large amount of free fluid. The following are the most common causes of pulmonary edema.
Left-sided heart failure or mitral valvular disease with consequent great increases in pulmonary venous pressure and pulmonary capillary pressure and flooding of the interstitial spaces and alveoli.
Damage to the pulmonary capillary membrane caused by infections such as pneumonia or by breathing noxious substances such as Chlorine gas or sulfur dioxide gas.
A unique cause is depression of cough reflex-people who don’t cough often or well and thus allow fluids to accumulate in the windpipe.
Each of these causes rapid leakage of both plasma proteins and fluid out of the capillaries and into both lung tissue spaces and alveoli.
Prevention: the answer is crystal clear, as the air in the lungs should be untainted with fumes. Normal coughing should not be suppressed because the body gets rid of harmful phlegm.
It is better to prevent than to cure. One can only prevent when he or she knows the cause. We should not leave everything in the hands of our physicians because we all involve in taking care of our health.