ANOXEMIA IN PNEUMONIA: MECHANISM OF OXYGEN THERAPY

A scrutiny of the problem of pneumonia with the involved physiology of metabolism brings forth a new picture of the malady. Physiologists have opened fields of investigation which bear a close clinical relationship to the problem. In pneumonia there is an invasion of the body by pneumococci. The body reacts by forming antibodies to combat the invasion. The virulence of the invading organism is variable, both at the beginning of the attack and as the disease progresses. The rapidity with which the patient builds antibodies varies. In each person there is a variation in antibody formation (resistance) as the disease progresses. A pneumococcus of low virulence, attacking an individual possessing rapid antibody formation, is soon stopped (abortive pneumonia). On the other hand, the combination of a virulent organism invading an individual with inadequate antibody formation usually results in a fatality. Any therapeutic measure that will elevate or prolong resistance, or