#Sepsis #SepsisExplained #SepsisAwareness #SepsisSymptoms #SepsisTreatment
🔍 How does sepsis actually work? 🤔
If you’ve ever wondered about how sepsis actually works, you’re not alone. It can be a confusing and sometimes frightening topic to explore. Sepsis is a serious condition that can arise when the body’s response to infection causes an overwhelming inflammatory reaction. In this article, we’ll delve into the nuts and bolts of sepsis, including how it works, what causes it, and how it can be treated.
### What is sepsis?
Sepsis occurs when the body’s response to an infection causes widespread inflammation, which can lead to organ failure and death if not treated promptly. This condition can be triggered by any type of infection, ranging from a simple urinary tract infection to a more serious pneumonia.
### How does sepsis develop?
Sepsis can develop in several stages, beginning with an initial infection. When the body detects an infection, it triggers an immune response to fight off the invading pathogens. However, in some cases, this response can become uncontrolled and lead to widespread inflammation, which is the hallmark of sepsis.
### How does sepsis enter the bloodstream?
Sepsis can enter the bloodstream through various means, including:
1. Infection at a different site: Sepsis can develop from an infection in one part of the body, such as the lungs or urinary tract, which then spreads to the bloodstream.
2. Widespread infection: In some cases, the infection can become so severe that it overwhelms the body’s natural defense mechanisms, leading to the spread of bacteria and toxins throughout the bloodstream.
### The role of infected cuts and sepsis
You may be wondering why some people with infected cuts don’t develop sepsis. The reason for this lies in the body’s natural ability to contain and eliminate infections. In some cases, the body is able to successfully fight off an infection without it spreading to the bloodstream.
### How sepsis is treated
The treatment of sepsis typically involves a combination of antibiotics to target the underlying infection, as well as supportive care to address the body’s inflammatory response. In severe cases, patients may require intensive care and organ support to help them recover from the effects of sepsis.
### Conclusion
In conclusion, sepsis is a complex and potentially life-threatening condition that can arise from the body’s response to infection. It can enter the bloodstream through various means, leading to widespread inflammation and organ dysfunction. However, with prompt recognition and appropriate treatment, many patients are able to recover from sepsis and lead healthy lives once again.
If you or someone you know is experiencing symptoms of sepsis, such as fever, rapid heartbeat, or confusion, it’s important to seek medical attention immediately. Early intervention can make a significant difference in the outcome of sepsis. Stay informed, stay safe, and don’t hesitate to reach out for help if you suspect sepsis may be at play.
Sepsis is when you have bacteria actively infecting and replicating in the bloodstream (and elsewhere in many cases) with a corresponding and rapidly intensifying immune response. (E: to add, because there might be arguments – there’s a growing body of evidence suggesting that there are low-level bacterial populations present in the blood, and as more is learned this ***microbiome*** may be linked more and more to known health conditions like [cardiovascular disease](https://bmccardiovascdisord.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12872-022-02791-7))
A simple cut allowing bacteria into the bloodstream could lead to sepsis, but in otherwise healthy people the bacteria are pretty quickly cleaned up by the immune system (mostly the innate immune system).
A lung infection can spill over into sepsis when the bacteria are able to access the blood stream through what amounts to a barrier roughly two cells thick – your lung’s pneumocytes and then the vascular endothelium. Remember that blood goes to your lungs to get oxygen and that oxygen needs to diffuse relatively easily into your bloodstream – it can be just as easy for some bacteria to do the same by infecting those cells. Important to note that, just like skin cuts, not all lung infections lead to sepsis. The problem is, again, when the immune system isn’t able to contain those invading bacteria. In some cases, like tuberculosis, the body will completely wall off infections with scar-like tissue to keep the bacteria contained in the lungs.
There’s an important distinction to be made here. The presence of bacteria in the blood is called bacteremia, and whether it’s serious or not depends largely on the status of your immune system. Most people are able to fight off bacteria in the bloodstream because that’s where a lot of your immune cells are. However, if your immune system is not functioning properly, or if the infection spreads throughout your body, it can lead to sepsis.
Sepsis is a set of symptoms rather than a specific thing; it can be triggered by bacteria, but also by viruses, fungi, or parasites. It’s caused both by the body’s over-production of inflammatory compounds, as well as by toxins produced by the infective organism.
Think of your body’s immune system and microorganisms as two opposing forces fighting a neverending war. Your body is a huge fort with troops stationed everywhere. Bacteria are constantly attacking anywhere in your body that they can reach, but your bodies defenses are superior and are able to repel the invaders in most cases. A few rogue infiltrators are going to find a way into the bloodstream here or there, but your body will quickly dispatch of them.
Issues arise when these invaders are able to exploit a weakness in your forts defenses. Maybe they found a hole in your fort’s walls as a point of attack (like a cut), or maybe your defending troops are busy fighting another battle somewhere else in the body. Now, the bacteria are able to deploy enough troops to overwhelm the defending troops. As the bacteria gain a foothold, they are able to increase their numbers and expand their territory.
Sepsis is a *dysregulated* host response to an infection. Meaning, your body overreacts to an infection and causes damage to itself in response to fighting the infection. It starts with the systemic inflammatory response syndrome or SIRS, evidenced by fever, high heart rate, rapid respiration, and usually high white blood cells. As your body reacts to the infection it creates inflammatory chemicals called cytokines, which in turn worsen the overall condition. This is the dysregulation. Your body is reacting too much to the infection and causing problems. As the syndrome progresses, you can develop shock (low blood pressure) and multiple organ failure. We call that septic shock or severe sepsis. You do not need to have a bloodstream infection to have sepsis. You can develop sepsis from any infection, bacterial or even viral.
So there are two concepts here. The first is bacteremia, which is bacteria being in your blood stream. This can happen very easily, basically anytime your blood gets in contact with a non sterile environment. For instance, this can happen when you brush your teeth. You get a small amount of bacteria in your blood and your body deals with it quick and easy. Sepsis is where you have bacteria in your blood AND organ dysfunction because of it. The generally agreed upon cause for this is that the body’s immune system is not handling the infection correctly and basically goes on overdrive but in a way that is not efficient for clearing the bacteria from the blood. This is more likely if you’re older or otherwise frail, although some bacteria are more likely to cause sepsis than others, and of course the amount of bacteria in your blood likely also matter but that is hard to quantify.
So sepsis is an actually caused by your body overreacting to bacteria in the bloodstream. Your body scrambles all of its defences to try and fight off the infection but ends up causing a lot of damage to your body in the process.
Your bloodstream goes everywhere. (There are some exceptions) but pretty much every part of your body has a blood supply. There is blood travelling through your lungs. A lot actually as that’s where it gets exposed to air to get oxygen to your body.
Your body normally kills any bacteria that enter the blood stream itself. As the blood will take pathogens everywhere. Your body fights very hard to defend it.
Most of the time infections don’t do enough damage to get into the bloodstream and even those that do get into the bloodstream don’t always cause sepsis.
I would recommend that you look at this website. Which has tonnes of educational resources that will explain sepsis much better than I can here.
https://sepsistrust.org/about/about-sepsis/
Just some general things here. Infection isn’t the presence of bacteria. It is an over response to bacteria. It is possible to have bacteria in the blood without being infected. Sepsis specifically is a serious infection that causes systemic issue. All forms of shock, including sepsis, are a problem of perfusion. Sepsis causes your pulse to increase, your O2 sats to drop, your BP to drop, and your respiration to increase. Specifically caused by endotoxins released from the bacteria. So the blood can’t get to the right organs. Meaning all your organs start dieing from oxygen starvation