Bronchitis - Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

Bronchitis is an obstructive pulmonary disease characterized by inflammation of the bronchi of the lungs . Bronchitis is an inflammation of the bronchial tubes, or bronchi. Bronchial tubes are the air passages that extend from the windpipe into the lungs . When a person has bronchitis, it may be harder for air to pass in and out of the lungs than it normally would, the tissues become irritated and more mucus is produced.

Bronchitis typically occurs in the setting of an upper respiratory illness and is therefore observed more frequently in the winter months. Asthma can be mistakenly diagnosed as acute bronchitis if the patient has no prior history of asthma. Occurring most often in winter, acute infectious bronchitis, an inflammation of the bronchial tubes, may develop after a common cold or other viral infection of the nose or throat. There may be the typical symptoms of a cold or other acute respiratory infection: chilliness, slight fever, malaise, sore throat, back and muscle pain, and profuse nasal discharge.

Synonnyms of the Bronchitis are chronic obstructive lung disease , COLD , obstructive airway disease , OAD , chronic obstructive pulmonary disease , COPD , respiratory tract infection, asthma , viral respiratory tract infection , bacterial respiratory tract infection , chronic bronchitis , CB , acute bronchitis , cough, viral infection, adenovirus , influenza , parainfluenza , respiratory syncytial virus.Bronchitis is defined by the presence of a mucus-producing cough most days of the month, three months of a year for two successive years without other underlying disease to explain the cough. People with chronic bronchitis also have varying degrees of breathing difficulties. In a severe, uncomplicated case of acute bronchitis, fever of up to 102°F may be present for three to five days, after which acute symptoms subside, although cough may continue for two or three weeks. Persistent fever may indicate complicating pneumonia.

Bbronchitis is predominantly caused by smoking, and has also been linked to pneumoconiosis, excessive alcohol consumption and exposure to cold and draught. Expectorant drugs may be used. When effective, they loosen secretions in the air passages and increase expectoration. Actually, the proverbial remedy, chicken soup, as long as it has plenty of pepper, garlic and possibly curry powder, can be helpful for the same purpose. Do not let embarrassm:mt cause you to permit secretions to accumulate in the lungs. The cough is nature's way of getting rid of the mucus. Cough it up and spit it out into paper tissue.

People who have chronic bronchitis are more susceptible to bacterial infections of the airway and lungs, like pneumonia Just when you thought you were finally over a cold, your chest starts to feel sore and you develop an irritating cough. Although bronchitis is commonly a mild disease in a normally healthy person, it can be serious enough to warrant immediate attention in someone who is elderly, is debilitated for any reason, or has chronic lung or heart disease.