Alcoholic lung disease

Pneumonia is a form of acute respiratory infection that affects the lung parenchyma and oxygenation. When a patient with pneumonia is an alcoholic, the mortality rate exceeds by 50% if they are placed into intensive care (ICU). According to Kershaw, C 2008 page 1, "[a]s of 2001, pneumonia was the sixth most common cause of death in the United States". Alcoholism increases mortality from pneumonia because of leukopenia, lower white blood cell counts, which leads to a worse infection because white blood cells help fight the bacterial infection, so lower numbers result in a less effective immune response. Alcoholics are at an increased risk for infection with tissue-damaging gram-negative pathogens or for the spread of bacteria in the blood. ==Mechanism==

The mechanisms of alcoholic lung disease are: • Metabolism of alcohol reduces glutathione anti-oxidant levels in the lungs. • Oxidation damage to the cells impairs the ability of the lungs to remove fluid. • Oxidative damage to cells reduces immune response. • Oxidative damage to cells results in a reduced ability to recover from injury. These chemical changes compound the negative mechanical and microbiological effects of alcoholism on the respiratory system. These include impaired gag reflex and cilia function and greater likelihood of colonies of pneumococcal bacteria in the upper respiratory system. ==Diagnosis==

Differential diagnosis Although lung damage from concurrent smoking and drug use is often indistinguishable from alcoholic lung disease, there is support for considering alcoholic lung disease as an independent syndrome. Over the last decade, evidence from epistemological studies show that hazardous alcohol use alone can increase by as much as fourfold the risk for acute respiratory distress syndrome. ==See also==