DEAR DR. DONOHUE: This past January I was hospitalized with strep pneumonia. I spent four days in the hospital. After being home for two days, I was again admitted to the hospital with low oxygen levels. Fluid had to be drained from my lung. The lung specialist told me that people often die from what I had. The infection had entered the bloodstream. I had IV antibiotics. I urge everyone to get the pneumonia vaccine. – J.F.

ANSWER: Pneumonia is lung inflammation, and one of the most common pneumonia varieties is pneumococcal (NEW-moe-KOK-ul) pneumonia, your pneumonia. The reason yours was called strep pneumonia comes from a name change – from “pneumococcus” to “strep” — but most people still refer to it as pneumococcal pneumonia.

Before the dawn of antibiotics, not so long ago, this pneumonia was one of the leading causes of death. It still is a fearsome infection, but antibiotics have given humans the upper hand.

The pneumococcus germ can transiently live in the throats of up to half of all healthy people and not cause trouble. When it gets into places where it should not be, like the lungs, then bad things happen. The pneumonia it causes often begins with a single, bone-rattling chill followed by a rise in temperature. Infected people breathe rapidly, cough and feel like they are at death’s door. In about 10 percent of cases, the germ escapes into the blood, and that intensifies the infection’s danger.

At one time, penicillin killed all pneumococcal germs. Now many of them have learned how to resist it, and that creates treatment problems.

There is a vaccine for the pneumococcus germ, and it’s often called the pneumonia shot. Everyone over the age of 65 should have the vaccine, and people with conditions like diabetes, heart disease or lung disease should be vaccinated at younger ages. An infant pneumococcal vaccine is now routinely given to babies.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: About a year ago, I wrote to you recommending a towel soaked in hot water and then wrung out as a cure for leg cramps and leg aches. In today’s paper, there’s a lengthy letter about the same thing. Do you ever publish easy solutions to problems, or do you just toss them into the round file? – F.T.

ANSWER: F.T.: I appreciate your input and bring it to the attention of the public. I like treatments that don’t involve taking medicine. I hope others find your method as effective as you have.

The booklet on leg cramps and restless leg syndrome discusses these common complaints in detail. Readers can obtain a copy by writing: Dr. Donohue – No. 306, Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. Include a check or money order (no cash) for $4.75 U.S./$6 Can. with the recipient’s printed name and address. Please allow four weeks for delivery.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I have a question concerning my 80-year-old father. In the morning, his blood pressure can be 80/50, while at night it might be 200/100. His doctors don’t want him on medication. My mother is rather hysterical. Will you please respond? – C.C.

ANSWER: I understand your dad’s doctors’ reluctance to put him on blood pressure medicine when his morning blood pressure is so low. I also understand your mom’s hysteria at his nighttime blood pressure.

How about taking a radical approach to this problem? The next time your dad’s pressure is so high, bring him to the emergency department of your local hospital. I am sure that the ED doctor will call your father’s physician and some treatment will be suggested. A reading of 200/100 can’t be ignored.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I have a question with regard to the acronym SUDEP. What does it stand for? Is it a condition? I read it in the obituary of a 15-year-old girl. – B.C.

ANSWER: SUDEP is sudden unexplained death in epilepsy. It’s an uncommon occurrence in people with epilepsy. It has never been well explained.

Even after an autopsy, the cause of death can’t be found.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I am an 82-year-old man in reasonably good health and a nonsmoker. My recent annual physical exam included a stool sample. It showed traces of blood. I do not have any abdominal pain, and my bowel movements are normal. There is no visible blood in my stool. I was advised to have a colonoscopy. I am wondering if it is a bit risky for someone my age. Your comments will be appreciated. – E.H.

ANSWER: An 80-year-old can tolerate a colonoscopy without jeopardizing his health. The procedure is not as exhausting as you might think. The preparation for a colonoscopy is more of a chore and a challenge than is the actual procedure. An 80-year-old can tolerate that too.

A colonoscopy is the best way of detecting colon bleeding.

Dr. Donohue regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but he will incorporate them in his column whenever possible. Readers may write him or request an order form of available health newsletters at P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. Readers may also order health newsletters from www.rbmamall.com