Bronchitis

Bronchitis affects an athlete by making it hard for them to breathe properly.

Athletes need a good respiratory system in order to take part in an event .

With bronchitis its much harder for them than the other competitors.

Since you have this in the categories of cold, flu and bronchitis, I assume it is one of these about which you are asking. None of these can be overcome in one day.

If it's bronchitis, which is often caused by a bacterial infection (but can also be due to viral disease), you first need to go to the doctor to find out if it is viral or bacterial in your case. If it is bacterial, you may need to be taking antibiotics, as well as possibly some medications for congestion. This bacterial infection can take quite a while (often two weeks or more, typically) to get over, and it makes you feel terrible. But, the sooner you go to the doctor and get started on the right medications and treatment, the more quickly you will get better. If it is a viral bronchitis, sometimes the doctor will prescribe antibiotics to prevent a secondary infection by opportunistic bacteria. But, often the only thing to do is wait the 7 to 10 days for your immune system to kill off the viral pathogen while treating the symptoms with over-the-counter (OTC) medicines so you feel better in the meantime.

If it's a cold or the flu, both of which are caused by viruses, there is no "cure" for these, and antibiotics will also not help, since these infections are not caused by bacteria. But, your doctor may still prescribe something for you that will help ease the severity of the symptoms. If started in time, an antiviral medication, such as Tamiflu, may be helpful for symptoms of the flu and to help shorten the duration of the illness. These need to be started within 40 hours of first symptoms to begin working with maximum effect, but your doctor may decide that it would still be helpful for you to start on it after the 40 hours are up, after evaluating your condition. If it is a common cold, there are usually no antivirals or other medicines to help, other than those to treat the individual symptoms. These are usually available OTC. Ask your pharmacist for recommendations for your particular symptoms.

But, in all three of these, there are other things you can do to help yourself get over it a bit sooner, and feel better until you do:

• Drink lots of liquids
• Get plenty of rest
• Take Tylenol for pain, aches and fever
• Take meds for congestion, prescription or OTC meds approved by your doctor or pharmacist
• Take Zycam at the first sign of symptoms, which will shorten the duration of the illness
• Eat a light diet, but be sure to eat nutritiously

Wash your hands frequently to avoid spreading the germs and infecting others.

If you are given antibiotics, be sure to take ALL of them as prescribed until they are gone. If you take antibiotics and then quit taking them when you begin to feel better, you can have a relapse, and you could end up sicker than you were before and then you will face the cost of more antibiotics and a longer period of illness. One hypothesis for this is that the antibiotics may kill the weaker bacteria first before the dosage builds up to the therapeutic levels in your system, so if you quit taking the antibiotics at that time, the stronger bacteria may then be able to multiply, making you sicker than you were in the beginning.

Bacteria can also become resistant to the antibiotic when you expose them to small doses of it off an on, or take the antibiotics for a shorter time period than they have been prescribed. If the bacteria can survive the smaller doses or the shorter treatment period, then they can become easily resistant so that the drug will no longer be effective in treating that type of bacterial infection. This is why you hear about the serious bacterial infections caused by Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). This is a common bacterial organism (Staph aureus) that was once easily killed by Methicillin, but now has developed into a very resistant strain rendering Methicillin no loner effective. There are no different drugs that treat Staph A. as well as Methicillin once did. This is an example of a very serious new organism that was created by people inappropriately using antibiotics which allowed the MRSA to become resistant. Don't contribute to creating more resistant bacteria, take your medications EXACTLY as prescribed and don't stop until they are gone.

See the related questions for more related information.

The MCV Lab Test is a kind of Hemotology Test. The results are derived from Hct, Hgb, and RBC count from a blood sample. MCV stands for Microtic cell volume, the test is an indicator for the size of the RBC's or red blood cells. It helps to determine if there is risk for certain anemia's. Tonya Fisher, LCNS Corbett, J.V. (2008) Laboratory Tests and Diagnostic Procedures with Nursing Diagnosis. (7th ed.) New Jersy: Person

Mean corpuscular volume (MCV) is a measurement of the average size of your RBCs (red blood cells). The MCV is elevated when your RBCs are larger than normal (macrocytic), for example in anemia caused by vitamin B12 deficiency. When the MCV is decreased, your RBCs are smaller than normal (microcytic), such as is seen in iron deficiency anemia or thalassemias.

Smoking cigarettes (and exposure to second-hand cigarette smoke) is the main cause of chronic bronchitis. Followed by environmental pollution, some kinds of occupational exposures to chemicals, and various air pollutants (such as sulphur dioxide). The severity of the disease often relates to how much the person was exposed to cigarette smoke/environmental pollution.

It is still possible for people to get bronchitis without any of the risk factors mentioned above.

Acute bronchitis generally follows a viral respiratory infection. At first, it affects your nose, sinuses, and throat and then spreads to the lungs. Sometimes, you may get another (secondary) bacterial infection in the airways.This means that bacteria infect the airways, in addition to the virus.

People at risk for acute bronchitis include:

• Elderly, infants, and young children
• People with heart or lung disease
• Smokers

Chronic bronchitis is a long-term condition. It's also known as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD for short. (Emphysema is another type of COPD.) As the condition gets worse, you become increasingly short of breath, have difficulty walking or exerting yourself physically, and may need supplemental oxygen on a regular basis.

The following things can make bronchitis worse:

• Air pollution
• Allergies
• Certain occupations (such as coal mining, textile manufacturing, or grain handling)
• Infections

The Top 10 Best Cities for Asthma Sufferers

1. Orange County, CA

A climate free of extreme heat and cold, with few smokers and low pollen levels helps position Orange County at the top of the asthma comfort list. "California is a great place for asthma sufferers," revealed Sperling. "The mild climate and strict smoking legislation greatly minimize asthma triggers."

2. San Jose, CA

San Jose scores particularly well thanks to a mild climate, strict smoking legislation, and a low asthma mortality rate.

3. Monmouth-Ocean, NJ

Monmouth-Ocean has low pollen levels, low non-ozone pollution levels, andlow asthma prevalence.

4. San Diego, CA

San Diego's climate is one of the best in the country for asthma sufferers, and it scores well with low levels of cigarette smoking and pollen.

5. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX

The McAllen-Edinburg-Mission area ranks highly thanks to low asthma prevalence and low levels of pollen and non-ozone pollution. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse has particularly low asthma prevalence and low levels of pollen and non-ozone pollution.

6. Syracuse, NY

Syracuse has particularly low asthma prevalence and low levels of pollen and non-ozone pollution.

7. Middlesex-Somerset-Hunterdon, NJ

Middlesex-Somerset-Hunterdon has low asthma mortality and low levels of pollen and non-ozone pollution.

8. Honolulu, HI

Honolulu scores well with a mild climate and low levels of pollution and pollen.

9. West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, FL

West Palm Beach-Boca Raton has particularly low pollen levels, non-ozone pollution levels, and asthma prevalence.

10. Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA

Los Angeles-Long Beach scores well thanks to low pollen levels and a good climate.

Source: Sperling's Best Places

It's not just smokers who argue whether second hand smoke is tied to lung cancer, it's anyone who has spent the time to look at the science about second hand smoke and lung cancer. The science just isn't present to support these claims, so if you claim to be non biased to either side, you would look into these scientific case studies and would question what most health organizations are claiming. Would you not question a used car sales man when he tells you the car he's gonna sell you for $50 is worth $30,000?

The Scientific Proof:

The [1]EPA was the only identity to claim second hand smoke as a carcinogen. The CDC, US Surgeon General and Lung Association base their information on the EPA report of 1993. The EPA collected 33 medical studies that studied the affects of non smokers married to smokers and their increases in lung cancer. The EPA's study resulted in a risk factor of less than 3.0 making it scientifically insignificant. The EPA report was also presented in front of district Judge William Osteen who ruled against the EPA report and states that the [2]EPA had "cherry-picked" it's data on the subject. The EPA did cast out 2 of the 33 study cases and ended up going with only 30 of them.

[3]Consumer reports looked into the 33 case studies and stated that of the 33 case studies, 26 showed an increase in lung cancer to those married to smokers, and 6 of them showed a decrease in risk in lung cancer to those married to smokers. Their report about the EPA report concludes "The studies showed that for any given nonsmoker, the lifetime risk of getting lung cancer remains small: 4 to 5 in 1000 ordinarily, and 6 to 7 in 1000 if he or she has been living with a smoking spouse."

Other large case studies such as the [5]World Health Organization (WHO), and the [4]British Medical Journal (BMJ) have done independent studies about the link between second hand smoke and lung cancer. The BMJ study concludes, "The results do not support a causal relation between environmental tobacco smoke and tobacco related mortality, although they do not rule out a small effect." The WHO study also concluded there was no association between ETS and mortality.

After studying the evidence found between second hand smoke and lung cancer from both sides of the debate on the subject, the author of this section has found more studies indicating a link between second hand smoke and lung cancer, although the link seems so small it could easily be debated for years.

Michael R. Fox.

Nuclear scientist and university chemistry professor.

- Of those chemicals present in ETS (Environmental Tobacco Smoke) only a very few can be classified as toxins or carcinogens. Some basic physics, a bit of chemistry and a series of rather simple mathematical calculations reveal that exposure to ETS is hardly a dangerous event. Indeed, the cancer risk of ETS to a non-smoker appears to be roughly equal to the risk of becoming addicted to heroin from eating poppy seed bagels.

About 90% of secondary smoke is composed of water vapor and ordinary air with a minor amount of carbon dioxide. The volume of water vapor of second hand smoke becomes even larger as it quickly disperses into the air,depending upon the humidity factors within a set location indoors or outdoors. Exhaled smoke from a smoker will provide 20% more water vapor to the smoke as it exists the smokers mouth.

4 % is carbon monoxide.

6 % is those supposed 4,000 chemicals to be found in tobacco smoke. Unfortunatley for the smoke free advocates these supposed chemicals are more theorized than actually found.What is found is so small to even call them threats to humans is beyond belief.Nanograms,picograms and femptograms......

(1989 Report of the Surgeon General p. 80).

The symptoms of Bronchitis are similar to a Severe Asthma attack. The only difference is that bronchitis sounds like wheezing (a lot of wheezing), difficulty breathing, chest pain. high temperature and sometimes a cough or bringing up green or discoloured phelgm.

When you have bronchitis it is a good thing to cough up the phelgm because it helps your throat feel better and the chest pain won't be as bad.

Bronchitis is an inflammation of the bronchi and may specifically refer to

• acute bronchitis, caused by viruses or bacteria and lasting several days or weeks
• chronic bronchitis, a persistent, productive cough lasting at least three months in two consecutive years.