CHRONIC BRONCHITIS

Bronchitis is an infection that causes the main airways between the mouth, nose, and lungs to become inflamed or swollen and irritated. It describes a condition in which the lining of the bronchial tubes are inflamed and people living with the condition tend to cough up thickened mucus that can be discolored. 

A cough is the main symptom of bronchitis and it may bring up yellow-grey phlegm (mucus). It may also lead to a sore throat. It causes a reduced ability to breathe, a reduced flow of oxygen into the lungs and difficulty in clearing heavy mucus or phlegm from their airways.

It may be either chronic or acute and it often develops from cold or other respiratory infections and it is very common. 

Symptoms

Chronic and acute bronchitis have the same type of signs and symptoms. Some of them include shortness of breath, cough, fatigue, chest discomfort, slight fever and chills, and production of mucus. 

People living with acute bronchitis may have cold symptoms like body aches or a mild headache. They might have a hacking cough that go on for many weeks although these symptoms may improve in just a week.

Bronchitis is often described as a productive cough lasting about three months with recurring streaks happening for at least about 2 consecutive years. People living with chronic bronchitis may likely have periods when coughing or other symptoms may worsen and at these times, an acute infection may develop.

Causes

Chronic bronchitis is mostly caused by prolonged cigarette smoking. Other symptoms that may contribute to the condition include dust, toxic gases in the environment and air pollution. Acute bronchitis is usually caused by the same viruses that lead to flu and colds. Antibiotics are not useful in treating this type of bronchitis because they don’t kill viruses.

The risk factors for bronchitis include cigarette smoke, low resistance, exposure to irritants on the job, and gastric reflux.

Prevention

• There are certain things that can be done to prevent bronchitis and some of them include:
• Avoiding smoking of cigarettes
• Getting vaccinated
• Regularly washing your hands
• Wearing surgical masks
• Treatments for bronchitis

People living with bronchitis are usually advised to ensure that they take adequate rest, drink a lot of fluids, breathe moist and warm air and take pain relievers and OTC cough suppressants to ease breathing and manage symptoms.

Acute bronchitis will often go away without any treatments at all but there is currently no cure for chronic bronchitis. The doctor may prescribe some medications to help keep symptoms under control. Some of them include:

• Bronchodilators to help clear out mucus and open the bronchial tubes
• Pulmonary rehabilitation program to help improve breathing 
• Mucolytics to make it easier to cough the sputum
• Antibiotics to prevent secondary infections since they are only effective for bacterial infections and not viral infections
• Oxygen therapy to help improve the intake of oxygen whenever breathing becomes difficult
• Glucocorticoid steroids and anti-inflammatory medicines help to decrease chronic inflammation that may lead to tissue damage
• Cough medicine 

Other behavioral remedies or lifestyle changes may also help in managing bronchitis. They include: 

• Breathing exercises 
• Removing whatever the source of irritation to the lungs is
• Making use of a humidifier
• Engaging in an exercise that may help to strengthen the muscles involved in breathing