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Oprah Reveals She Was ‘Very Sick’, What You Need To Know About Pneumonia

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What’s new with Oprah Winfrey? How about news about her pneumonia?

On Monday’s episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Oprah revealed that she recently had an oh, my,episode. She had been “very sick” with pneumonia and "just got cleared yesterday," as she described in the following segment:

Winfrey, or Oprah as she’s known by her fans, emphasized that “pneumonia is nothing to play with y'all, it is very serious.”

Indeed, if you want something to play with, don’t choose pneumonia. Choose a basketball or some silly putty instead. Not all types of pneumonia are life-threatening, but many can seriously harm or even kill you if you don’t seek proper medical attention soon enough.

Pneumonia rhymes with ammonia or beefsteak begonia but isn’t just a single syndrome or disease. Instead, it is like the term “boy band” and encompasses many different types of conditions. The common denominator is that it is an infection affecting the alveoli of your lungs. Alveoli may sound like a type of pasta but it’s really a term that’s plural for alveolus. An alveolus is one of the many air sacs that sit at the end of your respiratory tract, looking like clusters of very small grapes.

When you breathe in air through your nose or mouth, the air travels down your trachea, which is your main “windpipe”, through your bronchi and bronchioles that form tree-like structures, all the way down to your alveoli, many many small air sacs that inflate like very small balloons. These alveoli have numerous blood vessels running through them that allow the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide molecules between the blood and the air in the lungs.

Think of these alveoli as the “airports” or “air” ports for these molecules. Red blood cells are like little Ubers or Lyfts that arrive at these airports to drop off carbon dioxide and then pick up oxygen that arrives through the air that you inhale. The red blood cells then carry the oxygen to the rest of your body. Meanwhile, the carbon dioxide that’s deposited in your alveoli gets exhaled back up your respiratory tract out through your nose and mouth.

Trouble happens when these “airports” are invaded by microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, or fungi. These air sacs then may become inflamed and filled with fluid, pus, or other types of gunk. Inflammation and gunk, which is not a formal medical term, can be like bad weather at an airport, making it more difficult to exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide. This, my friends, is what’s called pneumonia.

Here is a Khan Academy presentation showing these processes:

Common symptoms of pneumonia include shortness of breath, trouble breathing, chest discomfort or pain, a continuing cough, and a fever. Be particularly suspicious if you are coughing up pus or have a fever higher than 102 F (39 C).

Here’s the scary thing: your symptoms may not reflect the severity of your pneumonia, especially if your immune system is not up to snuff. If you are a young child, an older adult, on medications that may suppress your immune system, or have other medical problems, your body may not fully react to the infection. Thus the infection can quietly cause damage until things get too late.

That’s one of the reasons why not everyone seeks care soon enough until it’s too late. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in the U.S., each year around a million people get hospitalized for pneumonia and about 50,000 people die. More timely and appropriate treatment with antibiotics or antivirals could have saved many of these people. Therefore, if you have anything resembling pneumonia symptoms, have a low threshold for getting checked by a doctor.

Of course, the best way to survive pneumonia is to not get it in the first place. This means washing your hands frequently and thoroughly. This also means keeping your immune system strong by getting enough sleep, staying physically active, and eating well. Avoid smoking too, because smoking can impair your respiratory system’s natural defenses.

Oh, and as Oprah said, get your recommended vaccines, which include vaccines against the following diseases that could result in pneumonia:

  • Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib)
  • Influenza (flu)
  • Measles
  • Pertussis (whooping cough)
  • Pneumococcal Varicella (chickenpox)
  • Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV)

Moreover, you know those little people than run around you touching everything and sticking their fingers into who-knows-what-and-where? Kids are basically Twitter for microbes and can easily spread germs to many different people, including you. Therefore, make sure that all kids around you are fully vaccinated as well.

Apparently, getting pneumonia was an “aha moment” for Oprah. She told Ellen DeGeneres that it has changed the way that she views “wellness,” but didn’t yet elaborate how. She didn’t reveal what exact type of pneumonia she had and which microbe was the culprit. Perhaps we’ll hear more details in her OWN time, so to speak. In the meantime, keep in mind that wellness is about using science-backed ways to bolster and protect you and your body. That includes getting recommended vaccinations.

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