Thursday, September 6, 2007
Chronic bronchitis is a very common respiratory disease that involves inflammation and infection of the bronchial tubes, mucosal membranes and tissues. The disease is manifested by an overproduction of mucus that results in temporary obstruction of the airways. In the first stages of chronic bronchitis, the disease only affects the major airways, generating milder and less persistent symptoms. However, in more advanced stages of chronic bronchitis all airways are affected, preventing the proper oxygenation of the lungs due to pronounced obstruction of the respiratory tract. As the disease progresses further, chronic bronchitis sufferers may develop serious complications at the level of the lungs. Complicated forms of chronic bronchitis often involve emphysema or pneumonia.
Chronic bronchitis is responsible for causing the so called "smoker's cough". This persistent, highly productive cough has a pronounced recurrent character. In the incipient phase of chronic bronchitis, this symptom usually occurs in the morning and clears within a few hours. As the disease progresses, "the smoker's cough" is ongoing and it rarely ameliorates without the aid of medical treatment. When the cough produces blood or yellowish mucus, it is a major indicator of complications, suggesting the spreading of the disease at pulmonary level.
Although there are various causes of chronic bronchitis, the disease is often linked with cigarette smoking. Recent studies indicate that both active and passive smoking greatly contribute to the occurrence of chronic bronchitis. In addition, smoking facilitates the progression of the disease and decreases the potency of specific medications. Smoking weakens the natural defenses of the respiratory tract, facilitates the proliferation of bacteria and slows down the healing of the soft tissues, membranes and organs involved in breathing.
Recent statistics reveal that there are more than 14 million people with chronic bronchitis in the United States. Around 17 percent of overall chronic bronchitis cases are diagnosed in regular smokers while around 12 percent of cases are diagnosed in former smokers. Studies in the field suggest that regular smokers are 85 percent more exposed to developing chronic bronchitis than non-smokers. The risk of developing chronic bronchitis is directly proportional with the number of cigarettes smoked.
An interesting fact is that chronic bronchitis also has a high incidence among former smokers, suggesting the long-term damage caused by cigarette smoking to the organism. Physicians sustain that it takes several months or even years until the undesirable effects of smoking at the level of the respiratory and cardiovascular systems disappear completely. On the premises of genetic predispositions for respiratory, pulmonary or cardio-vascular diseases, regular smokers are even more susceptible to developing chronic bronchitis.
Smokers that suffer from chronic bronchitis are advised to quit smoking for good. Although it may take a while until the respiratory tissues and organs are completely regenerated and cured from the effects of smoking, timely quitting this self-destructive habit can prevent the occurrence of further complications. Nevertheless, the absence of smoking speeds up the process of recovery from chronic bronchitis, minimizing the risks of relapse.
More informations about bronchitis symptoms or asthmatic bronchitis can be found by visiting http://www.bronchitis-guide.com/
Pro anorexia - anorexia as a lifestyle they say...but is it really like that?
Anorexia is a mental condition typical of the modern society in which beauty is represented by thinness for most people, and in which fat persons are considered disgracious by many. In these conditions, many young girls and women, even some men in a few cases, start doing everything they can to lose weight, and they go into a sort of a frenzy and stop eating anything, which leads to serious health issues and eventually to death through starvation. These people affected by anorexia start loosing a lot of weight, but they do not realize it and although they are much thinner then they should be they can't put an end to their thoughts that they are not thin enough and try to lose more weight. Quite a lot of people suffer from anorexia nervosa, and also a few famous singers and actresses have had anorexia problems which lead to death in some cases.
Although anorexia is a serious condition which destroys many innocent young lives, some people are having a pro-anorexia attitude, and there is a number of websites on the Internet that encourages anorexic people and gives advises about how to stay away from food and how to lose even more weight. This attitude is totally unacceptable because it promotes eating disorder and illness.
These pro anorexia websites try to help anorexics integrate into the society (a common fact about anorexic people is that they tend to keep away from society because they feel fat and therefore rejected), support them, and also to make them know other people like them.
Pro anorexia (or pro-ana) sites sustain that anorexia nervosa and the permanent preoccupation for thinness and diets is not a disease, it is a lifestyle, and anorexics are idealists which promote abstinence and healty fat-free food.
These websites have forums on them where anorexic people come and post their ideas and needs and others come and answer their questions and help them. These forums usually encourage anorexia and on them there are a lot of posts where excessive loss of weight and extreme thinness are also encouraged.
Some of the pro anorexia organizations are quite extreme and they mock everyone that considers their 'lifestyle' a disease that needs treatment. They claim to support anorexics and help them but what at first sight seems to be a supportive site may be in fact a pro-anorexia one. They also post pictures of really thin stars or of themselves if they are very thin, in order to inspirate other people to become like that.
Society's attitude about these pro anorexia sites is of course a negative one, but this matter should be debated and taken more into attention because these sites are dangerous, especially for lost young girls that are too shy to speak to their family. These kids may find friends in these pro anorexia communities and start to be anorexic themselves too and have an ideal in becoming extremely thin. A harsh attitude should be taken against pro anorexia in order to prevent this misconception that it is a lifestyle from spreading and to help those who suffer from it get treatment.
If you want to find great information about many anorexia subjects like pro anorexia, girls with anorexia or many more please visit us at http://www.anorexia-center.com .
Hiatal hernia - a more dangerous and hard to detect form of the common illness
Hiatal hernia is not as widespread as inguinal hernia which is the most encountered form but it is the second most common type of hernia so you should know what it is and how it manifests in order to know if you are suffering from it and what to do in this case.
Most hernias occur in the abdominal area. Hiatal hernia appears in the upper parts of the abdomen, at the diaphragm. A simple definition of hernia is that it is a disease that appears when a certain part of the body loses its resistance, because it gets old in most cases, and another part of the body that is in contact with the first one slips through a small hole that appears in the first part. Depending on the body parts involved in this hernia can be divided into more types.
Hiatal hernia involves the diaphragm, which is the first 'organ' from the situation above, the one that gets weakened, and the stomach, its upper side in most cases is the second one. The stomach is supposed to stay under the diaphragm (the muscular membrane that separates the abdomen from the lungs), but the diaphragm has a small hole in it through which the esophagus passes. The area around the hole weakens and a part of the stomach passes through it and slides inside the chest cavity. There are two forms of hiatal hernia, sliding hiatal hernia, when the stomach slides through the opening in the diaphragm between the stomach and esophagus as mentioned above, which is the most common form, and rolling hiatal hernia, less encountered, when the stomach slides along the esophagus not between it and the stomach.
Unlike other forms of hernia you can't feel the bulge that appears because the stomach slides inside the body, so in order to detect it you need to pay close attention if any of its symptoms show up, which is not that easy because in most cases it shows no easy-to-see symptoms! It usually causes heartburn, a warm feeling in the chest, because of the acid in the stomach that re-fluxes backwards in the esophagus. Most people feel symptoms after eating and lying down, they start feeling bad, especially if they eat hot spicy foods.
If you experience any of the mentioned above try paying a visit to your doctor and ask for a control. These symptoms also appear because of indigestion so don't get alarmed until you receive diagnostic. It's important to detect hiatal hernia early because if it's left untreated it may lead to severe complications that include heart-attack! So periodically visit your doc and pay attention to the symptoms to avoid complications, but don't panic as soon as you get a little heartburn because there's a long way from that to a heart-attack.
If you want to find great information on different hernia subjects check out this links. You can find great content regarding hiatal hernia, inguinal hernia and many more at http://www.hernia-guide.com
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