Over here, once people have a feeling of cough or running nose, the next thing is to get to the pharmacy and demand some catarrh medicine, which sometimes will work, but not every case of cough or running nose should be treated with over-the-counter medications. It is unfortunate like issues like headaches, runny nose, and cough are treated simply with over-the-counter medications rather than officially visiting the doctor in order to get appropriate help. Bronchitis is one of those cough symptoms that shouldn't be taken with levity, but unfortunately, we do.
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Bronchitis is when the airway that leads to the lungs gets inflamed and gets filled up with mucus, the body will naturally produce a cough, in a bid to get rid of the mucus. The cough could last for 2 or even more weeks. There are different types of bronchitis, but there are only two common ones; chronic and acute bronchitis.
Acute Bronchitis is also referred to as chest cold, it happens when the airways of the lungs swell and then produce mucus in the lungs, that's where the coughing begins and acute bronchitis could be for lesser than 3 weeks. It is instigated due to the presence of a viral infection or common cold in the upper respiratory tract and would normally disappear on its own. It can also happen to people who have enlarged adenoids and tonsils, but complications may arise when the patient has an underlying heart or lung disease, pneumonia is another form of complication that could proceed bronchitis.
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The symptoms of acute bronchitis caries are based on individuals and their body types, but generally speaking, affected patients would experience chills, light fever, a headache, soreness in the chest, muscle and back pain, runny nose, sore throat, breath shortage, wheezing, and watery eye. Just like most cases of viral diseases of the respiratory tract that is seen usually during the flu season, acute bronchitis is also very common during that season, there is an estimate that out of the 10 million cases visit the clinic, 5% of the patient come to complain of acute bronchitis. The common pathogens are; influenza viruses A and B, rhinovirus, parainfluenza, respiratory syncytial virus, and other similar ones. Other contributing factors that could intensify the presence of acute bronchitis are; a history of smoking, a history of asthma, and overcrowdedness.
The treatment option for acute bronchitis is often that of supportive therapy, for the relief of cough, it is advised that nonpharmacological and pharmacological therapy should be advised. Non-pharmacological therapy involves; ginger, hot tea, throat lozenges, honey, and so on, codeine needs to be avoided completely due to its strong addictive nature. Adjusting to certain lifestyle changes like staying far away from allergies and pollutants plays a significant role to help prevent recurrences and any case of complications.
While it may be easy for medical experts to diagnose the presence of acute bronchitis through medical history and other forms of physical examination, there could also be a serious need to rule out the presence of other diseases like asthma or pneumonia, tests like; chest x-rays, pulse oximetry, arterial blood gas, pulmonary function tests, cultures of nasal discharge and sputum, could be done to help ascertain the suspected fact.
Chronic Bronchitis is the second type of bronchitis, it exists if you have a cough with mucus most days of the month for about three months in a year, if you have chronic bronchitis, there is a chance of getting chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as well. Chronic bronchitis fills up the airways with thick mucus, as the small hairs that would normally move phlegm out of the lungs are damaged, this increases cough and as the disease goes on, it becomes even harder for the affected person to breathe.
Smoking cigarette is the leading cause of chronic bronchitis, most of the people that have been known to have the disease were either chronic smokers or were once chronic smokers, asides from smoking, other contributing factors are; coal, smoke, fire, some perfumes, and hairspray, dust, secondhand smoke, air pollution, engine exhaust, and the likes. More women get diagnosed with the disease than men, and they are usually within the age of 44-65.
In order to diagnose the presence of chronic bronchitis, the doctor will look out for a productive cough (producing mucus) that could last for about 3 months happening over years. It isn't possible to cure chronic bronchitis, but there are symptoms that could help one manage symptoms. The purpose of every administered treatment is to help relieve symptoms, prevent the occurrence of complications and slow down the progression of the disease. Diagnosing chronic bronchitis would involve medical tests like; Pulmonary function tests, Arterial blood gas, Pulse oximetry, CT scan and chest X-ray.
References. .
https://www.lung.org/lung-health-diseases/lung-disease-lookup/chronic-bronchitis
https://www.webmd.com/lung/understanding-bronchitis-basics
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/chronic-bronchitis
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK482437/
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/bronchitis/symptoms-causes/syc-20355566
https://www.webmd.com/lung/copd/copd-chronic-bronchitis
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/3993-bronchitis
https://medlineplus.gov/chronicbronchitis.html
https://familydoctor.org/condition/acute-bronchitis/
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/acute-bronchitis
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK448067/
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