Fox News
Expand
Browse All Video
Watch Live

You're watching...

Understanding bronchitis

Details

  • Description

    What are the signs and symptoms?

  • Duration 4:28
  • Date

Clips

Also in this playlist...

Sunday Housecall

Auto-advance: ON

Auto-advance
View All

Transcript

This transcript is automatically generated

-- want to talk about the health concerns for former president George H.

W.

Bush he was hospitalized this week he's 88 years old and they say it's from complications have bronchitis.

He's in stable condition at a Houston hospital getting great great care.

But doctor somebody a lot of people not just older Americans suffer from respiratory illness what are we need to know.

Well it's a very common disease but part of -- comes in two forms.

It comes in in an acute form which is short term it may be right -- the flu.

It may take about two to three weeks.

And a lot of times -- this is Byron we make a mistake as physicians to keep writing -- zee pac ten and prescriptions.

That's only good for bacteria which is only 10% of the time and most of the time that would resolve its own.

If it goes on for longer than three months to two to two years.

That becomes a chronic bronchitis a chronic bronchitis is really informational bit to being in the lungs the -- -- what they do is do you you accumulate.

Mucus.

That can lead to infection and on and on to pneumonia etc.

to the sooner you break this the better it is now.

The president is 88 years old so age is not working -- because immune system is down.

The fact that he has to have parkinson's a lot of these -- -- that we have to protect us and filtered air may not war.

And he's also not as -- but I think what -- he has going for him.

Is his great spirit being the fact that he's a -- this is a man who was jumping off the planet until like age of -- Believe me.

Bronchitis is not going to be an issue even though he's been -- for by the week that doctors are telling us.

That is still lingering cough they're going to treat him with oxygen and fluids and rest and hopefully.

It would bounce back and we wish you all the best.

OK -- -- mobility is an issue obviously but.

How do you tell as a patient whether or not you should be up and around if it's -- roll and antibiotics won't help.

Well Jamie first of all being open around is always a great idea if you recovered from respiratory illness could you get those lungs working and as you said former President Bush.

-- is inhibited a little bit -- as Parkinson's disease 50% of parkinson's patients actually.

Are prone to not being able to handle their secretions as well and they can get bronchitis on the other hand as I wrote in the inner pulse.

We're talking about an indomitable spirit here shot down over the Pacific.

Youngest navy flier who won an incredible human being President Bush's if anyone's gonna fight off infections it's going to be him.

The signs are good I heard from Jim McGrath -- is fairly spokesperson this morning that the keeping him over the weekend because the -- -- persistent.

But the cough you know it is also a sign that he's fighting this -- the wanna be very very careful with him.

Viruses as David said this time a year you start to see fall and -- virus is the number one cause.

Low humidity viruses travel up to ten feet this is where people are getting -- bronchitis from.

He can be on surfaces cold -- -- You get secondary infections with bacteria which I think may have happened -- you treat with antibiotics and then sometimes.

The -- stay in -- and what this is bronchitis.

Is the tubes to the -- big troops they're covered with hairs on the inside they can get -- up.

They get inflamed you sometimes have to use steroids anti inflammatory is to help you -- that they have.

Be treated even if it's not.

-- -- -- you can go another with the anti inflammatory tablet exactly what is on for example that's exactly right taken once was unbelievable.

Yeah I know that when you cough we can give a tip to artists and viewers country.

It's supposed to do that but a lot of people don't so what are we doing to protect ourselves from these respiratory illnesses that are flying all over the place.

What we would wouldn't recommend vaccination which is that one of the big things in in the medical treatment flu vaccine for sure David saying Newman backs vaccine for sure.

Washing your hands using those senators did you think oh this is coming from your nose but just it starts and you can't you put your face.

And then -- sneezing and well cough is actually -- -- defense mechanism of our bodies trying to break all the mucus and what we do in the hospital.

When we have chronic patients -- -- surges.

We have people that pulmonary rehab where they actually do pulmonary to break these mucus and -- get it out.

But the most important message to a lot of people out there is if you have chronic bronchitis that's not from viral that's from smoking smoking is number one cigarette smoking.

Didn't best message from this segment is to quit because even if you quit today the effect of smoking will stay for many years the sooner you quit the better they'll take that morning and on time and if you know he's not to keep -- for weeks talk to your doctor about it obviously conduct that was ranking now.

Load More