The body is an incredible creation. The complexity of it is incredible. However, the body doesn’t always operate as intended. Normally when there’s an infection, the body will react to stop the infection. Unfortunately, sometimes the body doesn’t do so. The infection fighting can actually turn on the body itself and damage the body’s organs. This is known as Sepsis.
Sepsis is the first stage before what’s known as septic shock. People who suffer from septic shock are at an immediate risk of losing their life. Since almost any infection can lead to sepsis, it’s important for anyone to know the signs that they may be showing problems. This article will attempt to provide more information about sepsis so that no one needs to deal with dangerous situations.
As mentioned, the body itself causes sepsis. Specifically the body’s reaction to an infection is what causes sepsis. It’s very possible for any or all infection to cause sepsis. This means it can come from a virus, fungus or bacteria. While any infection can cause it, there are several infections specifically which make sepsis more likely. These include:
While anyone can suffer from sepsis, there’s more than a few criteria which can increase the chance of getting sepsis. Age is a major factor with the elderly and infants being more likely to deal with sepsis. People who have compromised or weakened immune systems from various diseases or syndromes are at higher risk as well. It may sound odd, but hospital stays at an ICU or long term also provide increased risk. Using breathing or catheter tubes also increases the risk of dealing with it.
Unlike many conditions, you need to feature all the symptoms to be diagnosed with sepsis. They include:
When sepsis moves to septic shock, the risk of death increases greatly and the blood pressure will plummet. Treatment will be required to keep blood pressure up and to keep lactic acid from building up in the bloodstream to extreme levels.
People who deal with sepsis will get worse quickly. As it does, the body’s organs like the heart, kidneys and brain don’t function at full capacity. This leads to septic shock, in which 2 out of every 5 people tend to pass away. This means that sepsis needs to be diagnosed as quickly as possible.
In order to treat sepsis, the underlying infection needs to be found as well. This will often mean a huge number of different tests need to be run. This includes blood, urine and imaging tests as well as others potentially. Dealing with the infection can assist.
Actual treatment for sepsis usually begins with broad spectrum antibiotics. After all those tests come back, then this can change to target something more specific within the body. Sepsis requires hospitalization so you will likely receive an IV to ensure fluid levels remain high enough. If blood pressure is far too low, then medications to constrict the blood vessels will help to increase a person’s blood pressure. Depending on underlying causes, it’s possible that dialysis or respirators can be required. Surgery can also be required if it will remove the cause of an infection.
