GOLD also supports the use of some mucolytics that are advised against when inhaled corticosteroids are being used, and singles out erdosteine as having good effects regardless of corticosteroid use. Erdosteine also has antioxidant properties. Erdosteine has been shown to significantly reduce the risk of exacerbations, shorten their duration, and hospital stays. In those with the chronic bronchitic phenotype of COPD, the phosphodiesterase-4 inhibitor roflumilast may decrease significant exacerbations. Epidemiology
Chronic bronchitis affects about 3.4% to 22% of the general population. Individuals over 45 years of age, smokers, those that live or work in areas with high air pollution, and anybody with asthma all have a higher risk of developing chronic bronchitis. This wide range is due to the different definitions of chronic bronchitis that can be diagnosed based on signs and symptoms or the clinical diagnosis of the disorder. Chronic bronchitis tends to affect men more often than women. While the primary risk factor for chronic bronchitis is smoking, there is still a 4%-22% chance that non smokers can get chronic bronchitis. This might suggest other risk factors such as the inhalation of fuels, dusts, fumes and genetic factor. In the United States, in 2016, 8.6 million people were diagnosed with chronic bronchitis, and there were 518 reported deaths. Per 100,000 of population the death rate of chronic bronchitis was 0.2.
Isovaleric acid (3-methyl butanoic acid) is the other source of body odor as a result of actions of the bacteria Staphylococcus epidermidis, which is also present in several types of strong cheese. Factors such as food, drink, and diseases can affect body odor, as can lifestyle and genetics. Function
Animals
In many animals, body odor plays an important survival function. Strong body odor can be a warning signal for predators to stay away (such as porcupine stink), or it can also be a signal that the prey animal is unpalatable. For example, some animals species, who feign death to survive (like opossums), in this state produce a strong body odor to deceive a predator that the prey animal has been dead for a long time and is already in the advanced stage of decomposing. Some animals with strong body odor are rarely attacked by most predators, although they can still be killed and eaten by birds of prey, which are tolerant of carrion odors.Body odor is an important feature of animal physiology. It plays a different role in different animal species. For example, in some predator species that hunt by stalking (such as big and small cats), the absence of body odor is important, and they spend plenty of time and energy to keep their body free of odor. For other predators, such as those that hunt by visually locating prey and running for long distances after it (such as dogs and wolves), the absence of body odor is not critical.