Page 11 - WholeMagazine_FEB2021

Staying Safe from Sepsis

National Institute of Health (NIH) The early symptoms of sepsis are
Preventing Infections and Improving similar to those of many other
Survival conditions. These can include fever,
Your immune system is on patrol every chills, rapid breathing or heart rate, a
day. It protects your body from bacteria, skin rash, confusion, and disorientation.
viruses, and other germs. But if something It’s important to know the symptoms.
goes wrong, it can also cause big Sepsis is a medical emergency. If you or
problems. your loved one has an infection that’s
Sepsis happens when your body’s not getting better or is getting worse,
response to an infection spirals out of get medical care immediately.
control. Your body releases molecules Researchers are now looking for
into the blood called cytokines to fight the better ways to diagnose sepsis. One
infection. But those molecules then trigger strategy is to use artificial intelligence to
a chain reaction. predict a patient’s risk of sepsis when
“Sepsis is basically a life-threatening they have an infection. READING: A Great Past Time
infection that leads to organ dysfunction,” says There are few medicines that help
Dr. Richard Hotchkiss, who studies sepsis treat sepsis. Doctors try to stop the The Library of Congress has thousands
at Washington University in St. Louis. infection and support the functions of
The most dangerous stage of sepsis is vital organs. This usually includes of books on line - Open to the Public Interested on serving on a jury?
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response to an infection damages blood ways to measure which immune cells
vessels. When blood vessels are damaged, are affected by sepsis.
your blood pressure can drop very low. The traditional understanding of
Without normal blood flow, your body sepsis, he says, is that the body responds
can’t get enough oxygen. too strongly to an infection. But his
Almost 1.7 million people in the U.S. group has found that the body also
develop sepsis every year. Even with makes too few of some important types
modern treatments, it kills nearly 270,000 of immune cells. This makes it hard for
of those. As many recover, some have the body to effectively fight the
lifelong damage to the body and brain. infection that first triggered sepsis. It can
“We can get many people over that first also cause a lot of collateral damage, and
infection that caused the sepsis,” make you more vulnerable to other
Hotchkiss explains. “But then they’re at germs.
risk of dying from a second infection Hotchkiss’s team is now testing ways
because of their weakened condition.” to boost the immune cells that are vital
Bacterial infections cause most sepsis for fighting infections using drugs.
cases. But sepsis can also result from other They’ve found they can increase these
infections, including viral infections, such cells in patients with sepsis. Next, they
as COVID-19 or the flu (influenza). will be testing whether this new
Anyone can get sepsis. But certain approach can improve survival.
people are at higher risk, including Supplied by: www.nih.gov
infants, children, and older adults.
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