Pneumonia in adults is a serious ailment since it goes unnoticed till it becomes chronic and the symptoms if any are milder than they would be in youngsters. The cause for worry is the other health complications that can result due to onset of pneumonia in elders. However, getting stroke-like symptoms is not observed in senior citizens suffering from pneumonia.

The fever in many cases exists in a milder intensity and is accompanied in some cases by cough. The major sign which appears when the infection has progressed to an advanced stage are disorders in the mental and cognitive aspects like delirium, disorientation and confusion. The detection in later stages is also attributed to the fact that symptoms related to heart disorders like variation in the rate of heart beat or rate of breathing gets more alarming in elders and noticed in old age compared to symptoms of any other diseases.

Often, the pneumonia symptoms get misunderstood for health aspects which are age related, other existing conditions or decreased feeling of well being. Some symptoms that the near and dear ones can take as a sign of bacterial  pneumonia include cough with throwing out mucus, excessive sweating, chest pain, faster pulse, quick and shallow breathing, delirium, confusion, fever, chills, increase in body temperature, or turning of lips to bluish color.

Viral pneumonia will exhibit symptoms like muscle pain, headache, fever, dry cough which may get bloody later, bluish coloration of lips, weakness or breathlessness.

Symptoms in other forms of pneumonia include fever and chills accompanied by nausea or vomiting, occasional reduction in heart rate, severe coughing bouts, loss of weight, night sweating or diarrhea and abdominal pain.

Only when the cause of the infection is diagnosed will the medications commence since bacterial pneumonia gets treated with antibiotics while viral pneumonia does not get cured. Some of the treatments for pneumonia include administration of antibiotics, treatment to remove mucus from respiratory tract, administration of medicines to suppress cough only on the advice of doctors, antiviral medicines for viral pneumonia, or administration of corticosteroids for treating aspiration pneumonia.

In elders, the time for recovery varies from 7 to 10 days with many cases suffering relapses as well. Certain precautions can offset the risk of getting pneumonia like good oral health of teeth and mouth, intake of nutritious diet,  avoidance of overdependence on drugs used to reduce alertness like antihistamines, narcotics, anti-cholinergic and so on; getting vaccinated by anti-pneumonic shots once in 5 years, taking appropriate treatment for existing ailments, and avoiding smoking.

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