Facts about Bronchitis
Bronchial asthma is an inflammatory disease but is not classified as bronchitis.
Usually the first visible sign of chronic bronchitis is a mild cough, commonly called "smokers' cough" (Longe 2006).
Chronic bronchitis is not generally caused by infection; the most common cause is inhalation of respiratory tract irritants, with the most common irritant being cigarette smoke (Longe 2006).
Children under the age of five are more commonly diagnosed with bronchitis than any other age group (Krapp and Wilson 2005).
Trachiobronchitis is the term commonly used when there is inflammation of the trachea together with inflammation of the bronchi (Breslow 2002).
Chronic bronchitis is generally part of a syndrome or group of diseases called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a category that also includes emphysema and chronic asthmatic bronchitis, the latter generally not included as bronchitis.
Most doctors rely on the presence of a persistent dry or wet cough as evidence of bronchitis.
Some patients with simple chronic bronchitis progress to chronic obstructive form of bronchitis, and most of these also have emphysema (Breslow 2002).
Acute bronchitis is characterized by cough and sputum (phlegm) production and symptoms related to inflamed airways and the phlegm (causing obstruction), such as shortness of breath and wheezing.
Acute bronchitis usually involves an infection, typically caused by viruses, such as influenza, the common cold viruses (rhinovirus and coronavirus), and so forth (Breslow 2002).
Various herbal medicines may be used to treat bronchitis, such as inhaling eucalyptus or other essential oils in warm steam (Longe 2005).
To help the bronchial tree heal faster and not make bronchitis worse, smokers should completely quit smoking (AAFP 2006).
Bronchitis usually begins with a dry cough, including waking the sufferer at night.
Chronic bronchitis is by far most commonly caused by cigarette smoke.
Chronic bronchitis may proceed to, or be concurrent with, emphysema (Longe 2006).
Bronchitis is an inflammation of the mucous membranes of the bronchi, medium-sized and large airways in the lungs.
Diagnosis of acute bronchitis is by clinical examination, including observing the patient's symptoms and health history, and sometimes microbiological examination of the phlegm.
Patients with chronic, obstructive bronchitis typically have a daily cough, shortness of breath, sputum production, and sometimes wheezing (Breslow 2002).
Chronic bronchitis involves chronic or recurrent excess bronchial mucus secretion (Breslow 2002).
To treat acute bronchitis that appears to be caused by a bacterial infection, or as a precaution, antibiotics may be given (Sethi 2003).
Chronic bronchitis develops slowly over time, with the irritants paralyzing or snapping off the cilia of the cells that line the respiratory tract and normally move the mucus along (Longe 2006).
Should they continue to do so, however, they would consume their reserve of gas in a time frame lower than the lifespan of the galaxy.
