Formula One Champion Battling Pneumonia, As He Remains In Comatose State.

                            
Formula One champion Michael Schumacher has developed pneumonia as doctors try to bring him out of the artificial coma that he has been in since December 29, German media reported today. Germany's biggest newspaper, Bild, said that Schumacher, 45, developed the lung infection last week. Pneumonia is among the greatest life threatening conditions that can afflict people in Schumacher's position.
The lack of a competent swallowing mechanism can make saliva run into the lungs and trigger the potentially lethal respiratory infection. So far, there have been no facial or bodily responses to his environment, according to medical sources, as his reflexes are tested on a daily basis. He receives food through a tube to his stomach, oxygen via a hose from a machine next to his bed as he still cannot breathe independently. Three times daily his joints and muscles are massaged to prevent atrophy and bed sores. The coma suppressed his swallowing reflex, pain perception and his respiratory drive. He has to be acutely monitored around the clock during this wake-up phase to see if such things are returning naturally - if at all. His blood is also thinned to prevent thrombosis and he is regularly turned and even stood straight up at times to keep blood flowing. He lies on a special air-filled mattress to prevent pressure sores and his urinary tract is under constant vigilance because of the danger of waste bacteria entering the bloodstream and causing another potentially fatal infection.
DM.