Participants in the study stated that they prescribe an antibiotic 75 percent of the time, first choice or otherwise, when treating nonsmoking patients with acute bronchitis. The survey also revealed that physicians prescribed antibiotics 90 percent of the time for adult smokers with acute bronchitis. If an antibiotic is prescribed for nonsmokers, amoxicillin and erythromycin were cited as the first choice by 40 percent and 35 percent of respondents, respectively. The idea is to preserve stem cells, which are the source of all blood cells, so that people who might later develop cancers of the blood and lymph system can receive their own cells instead of those from a matched donor. Other companies and researchers have been storing umbilical cord blood, which contains high concentrations of stem cells, from newborns for the same reason.
Antioxidants counteract the damaging effects of oxygen in tissues.
Vitamin E, which is among the more commonly known antioxidant agents, is believed to provide protection against certain forms of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and other conditions.