Pneumonia 

Pneumonia is an infection of the lungs that range from mild to severe. Pneumonia causes 2.5 million deaths per year worldwide and according to the WHO over 800 thousand deaths that were reported were children under the age of five.

The death rate from pneumonia for people over 65 was 93.2 pre-COVID per every 100,000 people in the US alone. Also, people over 80 years of age have the highest mortality rate of 37.7% from pneumonia.

However there are several things you can do to protect yourself and your family from getting pneumonia.

Listed are several things you can and should do because pneumonia is deadly and if you survive will weaken your lungs for repeated episodes.

1. Do not eat mucus forming foods. This includes all dairy from mammals, such as cows, sheep, goats, camel milk, no cheese, yogurt, butter, ice cream, cream, curds, buttermilk, powdered milk, condensed milk, chai.

Stay away from red meat, anything made from wheat like cereals, bread and processed foods.

2. Wash your hands often and keep your fingers out of your nose.

3. Cover your chest and neck when going outside when its cold. Also showing your cleavage may be sexy, but the skin on the chest is thin and easily absorbs toxins.

4. DO NOT SMOKE! Smoking constricts the lungs for receiving oxygen and tobacco is full of toxins and chemicals.

5. Mild exercise and deep breathing expands the lungs and helps keep them strong.

6. Keep your immune system strong.

7. Sugar significantly lowers the immune system.

8. Get ample sleep and rest

9. Don’t sleep with a fan or ac directly blowing on your upper body and head.

10. Clean and disinfect surfaces.

11. Wearing a mask too often causes you to breath back in toxins your body is trying expel.

12. Being immunocompromised. Having a weakened immune system caused by AIDS/HIV, alcohol abuse, organ transplant, long term cancer, or autoimmune treatment, chemotherapy, long term treatment with steroids or immunosuppressant drugs can decrease the body’s ability to fight infections making you more susceptible to pneumona.

13. Being hospitalized or being on a ventilator raises your risk of getting pneumonia.

14.Lack of movement. Keeping the body moving and the blood flowing is vital.

15. Stay off drafty floors or drafty areas. Constant room temperature changes also cause the lungs to constrict.

Gail Preger ND CNHP CMC OM