You may have heard the news that legendary actress Patty Duke died earlier this week. You also may have seen that she died of sepsis—and promptly dismissed it as something people die of when they’re older. But sepsis isn’t just for the elderly.
The disease, which is a life-threatening complication of an infection, is one of the 10 most common causes of death by disease, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and it can affect people of any age. Sepsis kills more than 258,000 Americans each year and “leaves thousands of survivors with life-changing after effects,” the CDC says.
Sepsis occurs when chemicals released into the bloodstream to fight infection trigger damaging inflammation throughout the body, the Mayo Clinic explains. It can happen for a wide variety of reasons, Lorraine Maita, M.D., author of Vibrance for Life, tells SELF. Among them: Having an overwhelming infection such as pneumonia, ruptured bowels, kidney disease, or bacteria entering the blood stream, as well as age, taking immunosuppressant or transplant drugs, and having HIV.
But sepsis can also be sparked by a minor infection, such as a skin or urinary tract infection, Marc Leavey, M.D., an internist at Baltimore’s Mercy Medical Center, tells SELF. From there, it can go all over your body. “That infection begins to spread, ultimately reaching and infecting other organs in the body,” he explains. “The organism may be particularly virulent, the treatment being used may be even partially ineffective, or the person may have some condition which weakens his or her ability to fight the infection.”
Sepsis is treatable, Maita says, but early detection is important. “Recovery depends on the stage in which it is treated and the ability of the person being treated being able to fight the infection,” she says. For example, someone who is frail or has undergone chemotherapy would typically have a more difficult time fighting this type of infection than a young, otherwise healthy person whose sepsis was caught at the same time.
Once caught, Leavey says sepsis is treated with antibiotics, usually given intravenously, and in high doses. “In addition, support to the affected organs may require fluid and electrolyte augmentation, supplemental oxygen in varying degrees, medications to improve organ functioning, mechanical assistance for kidney failure, respiratory failure, and circulatory failure, as well as surgical intervention to deal with accumulations of purulent material and to repair any damaged organs,” he says. Basically, sepsis can wreck havoc on your body, requiring a lot of work to recover.
How do you know if you have sepsis in the first place? The individual symptoms can be mistaken for other less severe illnesses, Leavey says. But Maita notes that the initial stages can cause a fever, elevated heart rate above 100, and rapid breathing at a rate over 20 breaths per minute.
The CDC has come up with an acronym to help people with a diagnosis:
S = Shivering fever, or being very cold E = Extreme pain or general discomfort ("worst ever”) P = Pale or discolored skin S = Sleepy, difficult to wake up, confused I = “I feel like I might die” S = Short of breath
“Any of these, along with signs of an infection, should lead one to consider sepsis as existing,” says Leavey.
It’s important to get treatment as soon as possible for sepsis. “An average of 28 percent of people die of sepsis, even with good hospital care,” Maita points out.
If you suspect you have sepsis, call your doctor immediately. Or, if your symptoms are severe, visit an emergency room.
Photo Credit: L to R: FPG / Staff; Brian To / Contributor, Getty Images
