Chronic Bronchitis With Acute Exacerbation

By Author: Amy Cheung
Total Articles: 28
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Sometimes, for an individual with chronic bronchitis, the symptoms will quickly become worse all of a sudden. This is called an acute exacerbation of chronic bronchitis, otherwise known as AECB. Most patients that expire from a chronic form of bronchitis does so while experiencing an incident of acute exacerbation of chronic bronchitis, so an individual experiencing an attack of AECB needs medical care as soon as possible to increase one's chances of survival.

What Happens In An Attack of AECB?

Throughout an AECB, the already irregularly constricted air sacs in one's lungs become even more constricted, and an increased amount of denser mucous is stored. This will cause respiration to become all the more labored. This can occur simultaneously with a fever, chills, as well as feeling weak in one's knees. If the sudden acute exacerbation is caused by infectious bacteria, the mucus thrown up during expectoration can be accompanied by blood, or colored a brighter than regular green or yellow. If the patient is experiencing fever, and has noticed blood in their mucus, there is a good chance the attending physician will ...
... take a chest x-ray to make certain that other factors such as pneumonia is not the underlying cause of the condition.

What Triggers AECB?

Acute exacerbations of chronic bronchitis are more commonly triggered by one or more of the following factors:
-Bacterial or viral infections (e.g. cold, flu)
-Air pollutants that aggravate the respiratory system (e.g. smoke, fumes, dust)
-Weather changes

To protect oneself from AECB, a chronic bronchitic is encouraged to avoid visiting areas with severe air pollution, to seek pneumonia and flu injections, as well as to stick to a proper nutrition to strengthen one's immune system against infectious agents.

If you are experiencing AECB, you are advised to seek medical attention at once. This condition has been observed to trigger other problems, as well as a number of cases are documented annually due to AECB complications. If you are experiencing this, strive to avoid panicking. Keep your breathing as steady as possible, and steadily visit your doctor for advice . Because this condition can occur abruptly without preamble, it is imperative to keep any prescribed inhalants within reach in cases of attacks. Remember to check with your physician, and make sure that such inhalers are fine to inhale during an attack of acute exacerbation, to avoid any further problems. Try lying on your back while a humidifier is running, or jumping in a hot shower to ease your breathing and alleviate the symptoms of acute exacerbation of chronic bronchitis.
To grab a copy of Amy's Free Chronic Bronchitis eBook, and read more articles related to How to Treat Chronic Bronchitis, please click here to visit her chronic bronchitis website.