Bronchitis is a condition in which you can have an illness that is both infectious and one that is noninfectious. In most cases, it is a virus that causes bronchitis to happen. This virus is generally the same type that causes a common cold to happen in most people.
On the other hand, bronchitis can also be a condition that is caused by the pollutants in the air that you breathe including from cigarette smoke. Smog and chemicals that are used to clean with are additional causes for bronchitis.
Another cause of bronchitis happens because of the acids that are normally found in your stomach backing up, literally, up into your gastroesophageal track. This is sometimes called GERD, or gastroesophageal reflux disease.
Some people that work in conditions that are not favorable for good, clean breathing also develop bronchitis. This type of bronchitis is known as an occupational bronchitis in which case the pollutants including dusts and/or fumes get into the breathing airways and cause illness.
Usually, when the person stops working there, or improves the breathing circumstances, their bronchitis symptoms also improve and often the irritation will stop.
Causes Of Chronic Bronchitis
The causes of chronic bronchitis are often a bit more drastic. If you have this condition, the walls of your bronchial tubes have become thickened and they are inflamed to such a degree that it is considered nearly permanent. When this happens, chronic bronchitis is evident.
Most with this condition must cough at least some time during each day to clear their throat. This is especially true of those that have chronic bronchitis due to their smoking habits. If you have to cough at least one time every day for at least three months of the year, you are considered to have chronic bronchitis.
Chronic bronchitis is often caused by smoking, but its not the only time that you can get it. You can also get chronic bronchitis from air pollution that is severe or toxic gasses that are in the area in which you work.
Those that suffer from chronic symptoms of bronchitis often develop asthma because of it. This is caused by the long term inflammation of your air passageways. In any case, it is essential that you get help from your doctor in dealing with your condition.
Those that are suffering from chronic bronchitis have a very serious illness to consider. As you’ll see in later chapters, it is this condition that often needs the most attention by you and your doctors.
Are You At Risk, Then?
Since anyone can get acute bronchitis from a cold that they have, it is not difficult to imagine that virtually everyone is at risk for developing this condition. Yet, there are some additional reasons why this condition can effect you more often or even just more severely than it will effect other people.
For example, those that are living in a home where they or someone else smokes are at an increased risk for bronchitis. In addition, children in these types of living arrangements are even more susceptible to bronchitis.
Those that are living in conditions where bronchitis is likely, such as a smoking home, will also have increased risks of developing pneumonia, colds, respiratory infections, asthma and ear infections.
Even still, there are additional conditions in which you can find yourself suffering from bronchitis. Those include the following risk factors:
- For some people, the risk may come from a low resistance level that is due to another health condition that they are facing. For example, those that are suffering from a cold have a weakened immune system, making them more likely to suffer from it. In addition, those that are elderly and children are more likely to face bronchitis than those that are middle age because they have a weaker immune system.
- GERD is another reason that you may experience bronchitis. You are more at risk if you suffer from gastroesophageal reflux disease. The cough that this back up of acids causes in your gastroesophageal track can be a cause of your cough and your bronchitis. Therefore, those that suffer from this condition are more likely to have these symptoms.
- The other large risk factor to getting bronchitis has to do with that of chronic bronchitis. Those that are exposed to irritants while working or doing other things on a regular basis are more likely to experience bronchitis than those that are not. Occupational bronchitis is a large part of this. Lung irritants include a wide range of things including cotton dust, hemp, flax, chemicals like ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, strong acids, bromine and sulfur dioxide. This condition is one in which the cough that you have is dry, or without as much or any mucus discharge.
If you have any of these risk factors, it pays to do what you can to avoid getting bronchitis. If you are exposed and already have bronchitis, it’s important to look for ways to relieve your suffering.
In some cases, such as those that revolve around occupational bronchitis, just removing the irritants from your lifestyle will ultimately improve your quality of life and reduce the occurrences and health risks associated with bronchitis. In other cases, the damage that is done is permanent. The best way to stop this damage is to seek the help you need as soon as possible.
Do You Need A Doctor?
Do you need a doctor for your bronchitis? This question is one that you’ll have to answer yourself, depending on the type and severity of the condition you are in. For most people, the need for a doctor is not there, because they are suffering from acute bronchitis, which will likely go away on its own within just a few days to a week.
In order to help this to happen, get as much rest as you can and get lots of fluids. Keep your home’s air moist as well. Treat bronchitis in the same basic way you would treat a cold to see improvement.
If your condition is serious in that you can’t sleep, then contact your doctor. There are medications that can be given to you to lessen the pain and to help you to improve your overall health faster. He or she will probably provide you with a prescription strength cough suppressant.
Those that have a fever, which is to be expected in most cases, should contact their doctor if there temperature reaches higher than 101 degrees F. If you are coughing up blood, yellow mucus, green mucus or you can’t catch your breath, call on a doctor as soon as possible because your condition may have progressed.
When bronchitis progresses, it ends up being that of pneumonia, a very serious condition that can be fatal if not treated properly.
In addition to this, you should seek the help of your doctor if you find that your bronchitis has not gone away within six weeks. Those that face chronic bronchitis can develop additional conditions like asthma when their air passageways remain inflamed.
Certain people should seek the help of their doctor sooner. If you have chronic health problems such as chronic lung problems, congestive heart failure, emphysema, or asthma, then you need to see your doctor as soon as you feel an episode of bronchitis coming on. Those that suffer from these conditions are at an increased risk for additional health complications from the bronchitis and therefore should seek attention as soon as possible.
If you have had bronchitis within the last few weeks or months and feel it coming on again, seek the help of your doctor. This can be a sign of the development of chronic bronchitis. This is especially true if you work in an area that has irritants that can bring it on or live in a home where there is a smoker.
If you feel that your condition is severe, seeking your doctor’s advice is just good medicine. A call to your family doctor will take just minutes and will provide for you the help you need in getting treatment started.
Those that have had symptoms like these that have happened more than one or two times in any given year should seek out help to insure that they are not suffering from a chronic condition.
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