What Is Chronic Bronchitis

By Author: Amy Cheung
Total Articles: 28
Comment this article

Chronic bronchitis is a long term problem occurring from inflammation of bronchi, which leads to excessive formation of mucous blocking the airflow into the lungs. To be known as chronic bronchitis certain fixed rules need to be adhered to these are:

-For two years in a row cough with expectoration for at least of a period exceeding three months.

-Different lung pathologies must have been carefully examined.

The most common complication that a patient is affected with is the shortness of breath so much so that it leads to problems with activities of daily living.

One of the commonest factors leading to chronic bronchitis is smoking, and smokers have a high incidence of the same. In the initial stages of the disease, the patient is troubled by morning cough, but as the pathology of the disease manifests chronic the patient suffers from continued bouts of cough with expectoration of mucus. This phenomenon commonly] is known as smokers cough.

In the early phases of the disease the broader air passages are affected, but later on even the smaller air passages are affected. As ...
... the condition reaches this stage the sufferer's VP ratio (ventilation perfusion ratio) balance is disturbed i.e the ratio between inspiration and air breathed out. The results of this abnormal VP ratio lead to numerous conditions like inadequate amount of dissolved air in blood or hypoxemia leading to enhanced complications like heavy breathing which if not checked eventually leads to cor pulmonale.

When compared to acute bronchitis chronic bronchitis as the name points towards is a far dangerous condition, the patients suffering from acute bronchitis responds well to antihistamines and antibiotics but the same cannot be said chronic bronchitis because of enhanced susceptibility of reoccurring bacterial and fungal infections.

Hence the patients suffering from chronic bronchitis are advised to take care of themselves and inform about the minutest of difficulties and get admitted into the intensive care units of hospitals till the condition improves.

As the disease progresses there is decreased ciliary movement therefore the difficulty in coughing out the mucous, this coupled with inflammation of bronchi leads to reduced safety against air borne and droplet germs.

Chronic bronchitis is a difficult disease often occurring in tandem with other respiratory conditions like emphysema and asthma. And in later stages of chronic bronchitis coupled with emphysema there is an overall reduction in the dead space volume and the condition may manifest blue bloaters in which the overall skin has a bluish tinge or cyanosis for want of oxygen.

Chronic bronchitis as a disease progresses slowly but unfortunately it has no cure and the only treatments are directed in direction of mollifying of presenting symptoms.



To grab a copy of Amy's Free Chronic Bronchitis eBook, and read more articles related to The Definition of Chronic Bronchitis, please click here to visit her chronic bronchitis website.