Is interstitial pneumonia serious?

Interstitial pneumonia will make patients feel that breathing is very difficult. The most profound impression is shortness of breath. When working, they will feel that they cannot catch their breath. More air goes out than comes in. They will also have a dry cough and feel weak. As the disease worsens, the patient will also lose weight. This disease is mostly caused by viral infection, with a relatively long incubation period, which brings great pain to patients. So, is interstitial pneumonia serious?

Interstitial pneumonia damages the whole body system:

1. Impact on the nervous system

The cerebral cortex is particularly sensitive to hypoxia. When hypoxia is mild, people will suffer from inattention, memory loss, and poor orientation. Patients with acute hypoxia may become irritable and restless, and as the condition progresses, their consciousness may become blurred and they may eventually fall into a coma.

2. Impact on the circulatory system

Hypoxemia strongly stimulates the sympathetic nerves through chemoreceptors. In the early stages of acute hypoxia, due to direct vascular reactions and nerve reflexes, the heart rate increases, blood pressure rises, and cardiac output increases.

3. Impact on the respiratory system

When the arterial oxygen partial pressure drops below 60 mmHg, hypoxemia stimulates peripheral receptors, ventilation increases, and reaches a peak when the oxygen partial pressure is 30~40 mmHg.

4. Impact on the digestive system

The oxygen supply to hepatocytes mainly comes from the portal vein with a low oxygen partial pressure, which makes them vulnerable to hypoxia. Hypoxemia can cause hepatocyte edema, degeneration, and even necrosis. If it is a chronic hypoxia process, the liver cells will gradually die and be replaced by connective tissue, which may cause cirrhosis-like changes.

5. Effects on blood

In acute hypoxemia, the body increases cardiac output to ensure oxygen supply. In chronic hypoxia, erythrocytosis is the main compensatory response. At the same time, the composition of red blood cells also changes, with an increase in phosphoglyceric acid content and P50, which is beneficial to the oxygen supply to tissues. However, due to the increase in red blood cells, blood viscosity increases, causing adverse effects on circulation.

6. Effects on the kidneys

The effect of hypoxemia on renal function is related to renal blood flow. In acute hypoxemia, renal vascular resistance increases and renal blood flow decreases. If accompanied by hypotension, insufficient renal perfusion and other factors, severe cases can lead to renal tubular degeneration.

The above are the hazards of interstitial pneumonia to patients. It can be seen that this disease is very dangerous and causes great harm to the human body. The disease can easily turn into chronic pneumonia or cause fibrosis in the lungs, and eventually lead to death due to inability to breathe. The chance of survival for this disease is not high, with only half of the patients surviving within five years. In the middle and late stages, a death notice has basically been issued.