The news of his death Pope Francis He mourned the Catholics of the whole planet in mourning. The “Pope of the Poor” suffered a stroke on Easter Monday morning (21.04.25). However just a month ago he had come out of the hospital where he was hospitalized with double pneumonia. Can the two diseases relate?
Although no doctor can answer with certainty as long as he does not have his hands on his hands Pope Francis Medical File, Pneumonia could have contributed to the stroke.
And this is because it can first cause severe hypoxemia, which can increase the risk of stroke or even a heart attack.
Hypoxemia is the low levels of oxygen in the blood (and therefore everywhere in the body). It is a characteristic consequence of pneumonia, since when the lung is ill, it cannot function smoothly.
The Pope had pneumonia in both lungs and even more than one germs. In addition, his doctors had told him that twice during his recent hospitalization, his life had been in danger.
How much does the risk rise
Studies have shown that up to 30% of patients being hospitalized with pneumonia have cardiovascular complications. These include acids and late heart attacks and strokes.
One of the most important was published in 2018 in the European Respiratory Journal. As it had shown, patients with pneumonia have a significantly increased risk of developing a stroke or stroke for the first time after infection.
The study was the largest that had examined cardiovascular outcomes in patients with various respiratory infections. It was prepared by scientists from the London School of Health & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) in more than 2,000 people, aged 40 years and over. Between 2004 and 2014 all of them had had acute bacterial or viral respiratory infection and also:
– 1,227 had first manifested a heart attack
– 762 had first manifests a stroke
The researchers examined how many of these incidents had occurred in the weeks after respiratory infection. They also compared their event with other weeks of the year.
The findings
As they found, those who volunteers had influenza or pneumonia pneumonia were significantly increased as a stroke or stroke.
In particular they were running:
– at least sixfold risk for a heart attack in the first week after pneumonia or flu
– at least eight times the risk of having a stroke next month from the flu or pneumonia
Scientists at the LSHTM School estimated that a week after 10,000 people over 75 after a respiratory infection. Other weeks of the year, a heart attack get 2 in 10,000 people.
Other studies have shown that the risk of cardiovascular episode may be increased by up to 10 years after patients’ hospitalization for respiratory infection.
How the risk increases
Is the hypoxemia mentioned above, the only factor that increases the risk of cardiovascular episode after pneumonia (or flu)?
Neither here the answer is sure. The exact cause of the correlation has not yet been determined with certainty. However, it is believed to be the result of complex interactions between the pre -existing patients’ problems and the effects of pathogens and respiratory infections to their body.
For example, the fact that influenza and pneumonia cause systematic (generalized) inflammation in the body may play a role. Inflammation can favor the development of thrombosis. In addition, pneumococcus (the bacterium, which is the most common cause of pneumonia) but also the influenza viruses have harmful effects on the heart muscle.
Other effects of infections on the sympathetic nervous system also play a role. In addition, severe respiratory infections can worsen or cause heart failure and cardiac arrhythmia.
For all these reasons, scientists study whether administering anticoagulation could help patients with pneumonia. One of the most recent studies on this was published earlier this year. As he showed, oral anticoagulants could significantly reduce (by 44%) the mortality of heavy pneumonia.
The aforementioned risks mainly concern patients with severe respiratory infections hospitalized. They are also older at ages over 75 years.
Source: iatropedia.gr