Skip to main content

Chronic Bronchitis

Overview

Coughing is a way for your body to get rid of harmful things in your lungs. But coughing too much can be bad, too. If you’ve had a cough that’s gone on for what feels like forever, you might have a serious condition called chronic bronchitis.

That’s when the air tubes in your lungs called bronchi get irritated and inflamed, and you have coughs for at least 3 months a year for 2 years in a row. It’s a long-term illness that keeps coming back or never fully goes away. It’s a type of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The other type is emphysema.

Symptoms

Chronic bronchitis fills your airways with thick mucus. The small hairs that normally move phlegm out of your lungs are damaged. That makes you cough. As the disease goes on, it’s harder for you to breathe.

Other signs of chronic bronchitis may include:

  • Cough, often with mucus
  • Wheezing
  • Tight chest
  • Shortness of breath
  • Feeling tired

Your symptoms may be worst in the winter, when humidity and temperatures drop.

Causes

Cigarette smoking is by far the No. 1 cause of chronic bronchitis. More than 90% of people with the disease smoke or used to smoke. Other things that raise your chances for it include:

  • Secondhand smoke
  • Dust
  • Certain fumes, like hairspray if you work in a hair salon or house paint if you’re a building contractor
  • Air pollution, welding fumes, engine exhaust
  • Coal, fire smoke

Twice as many women get diagnosed with chronic bronchitis as men do. Most people who have the disease are 44 to 65.

Chronic bronchitis may make it easier for you to catch respiratory infections like colds, the flu, and pneumonia.

Diagnosis

Your doctor will ask about your smoking history and listen to your lungs with a stethoscope. You may take tests, including:

Pulmonary function tests: This is a series of measurements of how much air your lungs can hold while breathing in and out.

Chest X-ray: Uses radiation to make a picture of your lungs to rule out heart failure or other illnesses that make it hard to breathe.

Computed tomography: This CT scan give a much more detailed look at your airways than a chest X-ray.

Treatments

Medication and lifestyle changes can lessen the symptoms of your chronic bronchitis and may slow or stop the disease from getting worse. Many people live with moderate symptoms for a long time, and breathe on their own without supplemental oxygen. 

Your first step, if you smoke, is to quit. Your lungs will not fully recover, but the rate of decline will be much slower. 

Airway openers (bronchodilators): These drugs relax your air passages to make it easier to breathe and relieve your bronchitis symptoms.

Anti-inflammatory drugs:Steroids lessen the swelling that narrows your air passages.

Oxygen therapy: This is for serious cases, where your lungs are so damaged that blood oxygen levels are extremely low. You can inhale oxygen from a portable machine at home as needed. 

Specialized rehab program: If you are often short of breath, rehab therapy can teach you ways manage your disease. For example, you might learn a better way to breathe while you exercise.

Lung transplant: A new lung or lungs may help you live longer.

What You Can Do

Exercise. Just like with your biceps, you can build up the muscles that help you breathe. Try biking or walking 3 times a week. Workouts make you cough up mucus better.

Avoid bad air. Stay away from smokers. Don’t step into crowds during flu season. Wear a face mask if you’re working with things that have strong fumes, like varnish and house paint.

Get vaccinated. A yearly flu vaccine lowers your odds of a potentially deadly infection. Your doctor may also recommend you get a vaccine that protects you from pneumonia.

“Purse” your breaths. This trick makes it easier to breathe by opening up your airways. First, inhale through your nose to a count of 2. Then pucker your lips as if you’re about to kiss. Release your breath through your mouth to a count of 4. Practice pursed breathing whenever you’re in the middle of something hard, like climbing stairs.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Charge Syndrome

Overview CHARGE syndrome is a recognizable genetic syndrome with known pattern of features. It is an extremely complex syndrome, involving extensive medical and physical difficulties that differ from child to child. CHARGE syndrome is correlated with genetic mutation to CHD7 and the prevalence of CHARGE syndrome is 1:10,000-1:15,000 live births. Babies with CHARGE syndrome are often born with life-threatening birth defects. They spend many months in the hospital and undergo many surgeries and other treatments. Swallowing and breathing problems make life difficult even when they come home. Most have hearing two little girls sitting on a carpet, one girl has a trach and is biting her finger.loss, vision loss, and balance problems that delay their development and communication. Despite these seemingly insurmountable obstacles, children with CHARGE syndrome often far surpass their medical, physical, educational, and social expectations. One of the hidden features of CHARGE syndrome is the ...
7 comments
Read more

Dehydration Due to Diarrheal Diseases

Overview Dehydration occurs when you use or lose more fluid than you take in, and your body doesn't have enough water and other fluids to carry out its normal functions. If you don't replace lost fluids, you will get dehydrated. Anyone may become dehydrated, but the condition is especially dangerous for young children and older adults. The most common cause of dehydration in young children is severe diarrhea and vomiting. Older adults naturally have a lower volume of water in their bodies, and may have conditions or take medications that increase the risk of dehydration. This means that even minor illnesses, such as infections affecting the lungs or bladder, can result in dehydration in older adults. Dehydration also can occur in any age group if you don't drink enough water during hot weather — especially if you are exercising vigorously. You can usually reverse mild to moderate dehydration by drinking more fluids, but severe dehydration needs immediate medical treatment. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) Disease

  Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) Disease Disease Overview Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease is a rare disorder of unknown origin that affects many body systems, including as the eyes, ears, skin, and the covering of the brain and spinal cord (the meninges). The most noticeable symptom is a rapid loss of vision. There may also be neurological signs such as severe headache, vertigo, nausea, and drowsiness. Loss of hearing, and loss of hair (alopecia) and skin color may occur along, with whitening (loss of pigmentation) of the hair and eyelashes (poliosis). Signs & Symptoms Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease is initially characterized by headaches, very deep pain in the eyes, dizziness (vertigo), and nausea. These symptoms are usually followed in a few weeks by eye inflammation (uveitis) and blurring of vision. This may occur in both eyes at the same time or in one eye first and, a few days later, in the other. The retina may detach and hearing loss may become apparent. The chronic stage follows...
Post a Comment
Read more