They say you can die of pneumonia, but what do they mean by that? Bacterial pneumonia is treated with antibiotics, but sometimes the antibiotics don’t kill all the bacteria and the pneumonia can come back.

Pneumonia also causes inflammation in the lungs. If the inflammation persists, your body will fight back by developing what is called a pleural effusion. Pleural effusion occurs when inflammation causes fluid to accumulate between the lungs and the lining of the lungs. If the pleural effusion is not treated and persists, it will eventually thicken and form nodules or plaques. This thickening is called “pleural thickening.”

What exactly is pleural thickening?

The lining of the lungs, called the pleura or pleural membranes, consists of thin membranes that cover the lungs and provide protection and support. Some diseases, such as bacterial pneumonia, can cause these membranes to thicken, often as a result of inflammation.

So pleural thickening is the thickening and hardening of the pleura or pleural fluids.

It can present itself in 2 ways:

1. Diffuse pleural thickening extends over a large area and may restrict lung expansion.

2. Pleural plaques are localized areas of pleural thickening/calcification that do not normally interfere with breathing.

To diagnose the condition, the doctor will use an imaging test, such as an MRI or CT scan, and may also take a fine needle biopsy of lung tissue. Pleural thickening is considered a life-threatening condition.

Some of the early symptoms of pleural thickening include shortness of breath immediately after physical activity and slight chest pain. In most cases, the initial symptoms of pleural thickening are difficult to detect even for the person experiencing them.

More advanced symptoms of pleural thickening include extreme shortness of breath even at rest, chronic chest pain, and chronic cough.

These pleural symptoms can also occur along with a condition called hemothorax, which is caused by the presence of blood in the chest cavity.

The thickening of the pleural membranes is not a treatable condition. Because the thickening is a symptom of a disease, treatment focuses more on the underlying cause of the thickening.

Causes of pleural thickening:

Pleural thickening can occur as a result of any inflammation that occurs in the lungs.

Diagnosis of pleural thickening:

The degree of thickening helps doctors determine if the cause is benign or malignant (cancerous). The appearance of nodules, circumferential thickenings (thickenings with well-defined borders) and thickenings of more than 1 cm may be a sign of malignancy.

Prevention/Solution

In most cases, when the symptoms of pleural thickening trigger a diagnosis, the condition cannot be treated. Doctors will focus on relieving the symptoms of pleural thickening, such as chest pain and the inability to breathe. Occasionally the lungs can fill with fluid and your doctor may recommend surgery to relieve the pressure caused by the fluid, but there is no medication or surgery that can control the spread of the effects of pleural thickening once it has progressed to the point of creating noticeable symptoms. If pleural thickening is detected early, it can be treated with surgery. Doctors will remove any infected lung tissue, and this may mean removing an entire lung.

If the nodules are diagnosed as malignant, your doctor will order the usual cancer treatments, such as surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy.

But the way to avoid all of this is to get rid of the pleural effusion before it starts to thicken and form the nodules in the first place.

There are things you can do to help your doctor and yourself. When you have been diagnosed with bacterial pneumonia:

– Always finish taking prescribed medications. If you don’t finish taking your medicines, pneumonia can come back and antibiotic-resistant bacteria can continue to grow.

– Keep all future appointments and x-rays that your doctor has ordered. You may feel better, but sometimes the round of antibiotics you took may not have killed all the bacteria. It is important that your doctor monitor your health for some time to make sure that the pneumonia does not come back.

– Turn down the volume of your humidifiers and put a capful of bleach in the water each time you fill them.

– Omega 3 fatty acids, flavonoids, carotenoids, cruciferous, alfalfa, and aloe vera, taken orally, will help soothe the lining of the lungs and help with inflammation and tissue repair/replacement.

– Vitamin E will help you breathe easier and help dissolve scar tissue.

– Garlic capsules can help kill bacteria.

– Drink plenty of water, as it will help flush out toxins. Also, fluids keep you from getting dehydrated and help loosen mucus in your lungs.

– Stay away from alcohol and smoke.

– Get enough sleep, don’t push it. Things can wait until after you’re fully healed.

Some herbal formulas relieve symptoms without interfering with the healing process. For example, white willow bark contains a different form of salicylic acid than aspirin, so it blocks only the inflammatory chain of prostaglandins and not the healing chain.

Eat whole, natural foods and stay away from convenience foods and fast foods that contain additives, toxins, and chemicals. If there are foods that are out of season in your area, you should supplement your diet with vitamins. This will not only make you stronger, but it will help your medicines work better.

A link between lung function and vitamin D levels was found in a study conducted at the University of Auckland in New Zealand (December 2005, “Chest”). The higher levels of vitamin D that were present determined how much better the lungs were performing. Harvard University conducted another study and found that improved survival rates were linked to higher levels of vitamin D in cancer patients who underwent surgery.

Alternative medicine expert Dr. Ray Sahelian explains that oxidative inflammation and stress play a big role in lung damage. Supplements with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties can counteract this, and using them benefits overall lung health. Vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium, curcumin, omega-3 fatty acids, and resveratrol are examples of strong antioxidants and anti-inflammatory drugs. Dr. Sahelian points to specific research from Japan on COPD patients taking omega-3 fatty acid supplements that shows improved breathing.

Warnings

Do not use antioxidant supplements if you take pharmaceutical medications. Some antioxidant supplements may interfere with certain types of chemotherapy drugs because they remove chemicals and other toxins (drugs) from the blood, so if you are undergoing this treatment for lung cancer, do not take antioxidants. Stop taking them a week before you start treatment and then you can start taking them again a week after you finish your treatments. Also, if you are undergoing chemotherapy, you should stop taking vitamin B supplements. Omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin E can interact with anticoagulant medications and themselves work as blood thinners, so you should not take them before or during surgeries. . Certain herbs such as St. John’s wort, gingko, and ginseng can interfere with blood clotting and cause potentially harmful changes in blood pressure and heart rate in people undergoing anesthesia. If you plan to take supplements along with your treatment, do your homework and research the effects these herbs and supplements have on different medications, treatments, or surgery.