The actress Patty Duke, star of “The Patty Duke Show” and an Oscar-winning, died of sepsis from a ruptured intestine on Tuesday morning at age 69.
Her son affirmed that during her last days, she had “really, really suffered” due to her illness, and added that “was a really, really, really hard process”. He added that it was not only hard for her but also for the people who love her and always helped her.
On the other hand, Thomas Heymann, executive director of the Sepsis Alliance, considers that her death announcement could help to spread the sepsis awareness movement and save many lives.
Polls conducted by the Sepsis Alliance in partnership with official polling companies in 2015 pointed that Americans seem to know more about Ebola and malaria, (rare diseases in the US) than they know about sepsis; which, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is responsible for the death of over 258.000 Americans every year.
Sepsis experience organ dysfunction it’s consequence of an overreaction of the body for an initial infection (viral or fungal), and even when most of the affected people are able to have a complete recovery, there are others that have to live with a permanent organ damage or missing limbs due to amputation, and in the worst cases this disease can lead to death in a matter of hours.
Dr. Craig Coopersmith, professor of surgery at Emory University School of Medicine and the former president of the Society of Critical Care Medicine, recommends people to check for an organ dysfunction in the case of infection in order to help detect sepsis timely.
People must keep in mind that no one is immune to sepsis. While is true that very young people, the old ones and the ones with chronic diseases like AIDS, cancer, or diabetes are more exposed to sepsis because of their fragile immune systems, it’s also known that a simple scrape, wound or burn poorly healed can lead to sepsis as well.
Symptoms of sepsis
According to the CDC, the most common symptoms of sepsis are Shivering, fever, feeling very cold, extreme pain, pale skin, feeling sleepy and shortness of breath. They also encourage people to talk openly with their doctors in case they suspect of sepsis due a prior infection or wound that isn’t healing as it should.
Coopersmith insists that you could be saving your life by doing so.
“If you get sepsis, you have a higher chance of dying than if you have a heart attack, stroke or trauma,” he added.
Source: Huffington Post