Chronic Bronchitis

Hello students and friends, today we are going to discuss chronic bronchitis.

Here you will get what is chronic bronchitis, its signs, and symptoms, causes, pathophysiology, risk factors, complications, diagnosis, and treatment.

If your family member or friends are suffering from chronic bronchitis then preventive measures which have to be taken are discussed here.

Now, let us start with its basic definition,

Chronic bronchitis is defined as a productive cough that leads for 3 months or at least two years.
Most people with chronic bronchitis have COPD.
This is a serious condition which is caused by inflammation and irritation of the bronchial tubes due to the overproduction of mucus.When mucus builds up there is this disallowing of sufficient air into the lungs.
The major cause of CB. is tobacco smoking.

Signs and symptoms

1. Chronic bronchitis is often characterized by persistent cough with sputum or mucus.
2. Shortness of breath
3. Chest pain
4. Fatigue
5. Ankle, feet, and leg swelling
6. Frequent cold or flu
7. Low-grade fever and chills
8. Wheezing
9. Lung infections
10. Sputum (yellow or green color or sometimes bloody)
11. Chest discomfort

Causes of chronic bronchitis

1. Chronic bronchitis is caused by smoking.
2. Inhaling irritating fumes or dust.
3. Viruses such as the flu virus or influenza virus.
4. Inflammation of bronchi is normally caused by paralysis of cilia which stops the normal movement of mucus from the Airways and this is the primary cause of mucus buildup due to pathogenic microbes.
5. Chronic inhalation of air pollution or irritating fuels or dust from industries of coal mines, textile manufacturing, livestock farming, and grain handling may also, be risk factors for the development of chronic bronchitis.
6. Air pollution allergy and infection can make it worse.
7. Chronic bronchitis occurs most often during the cold and flu season.

Pathophysiology

• In chronic bronchitis, there is a narrowing of the airway starting with bronchi and there is an increase in airflow resistance and breathing rate also gets increases.
• Hypoxemia and hypercapnia occur
• Hypoxemia is a decrease in oxygen level in the blood and hypercapnia is increase in carbon dioxide.

Risk factors

People who are at high risk are:

1. Smokers
2. The elderly, infants, and young children
3. Patient with heart or lung disease
4. Weekend immune system with an increase in age
5. COPD
6. Repetitive exposure to lung irritants.

Major complications

1. Breathing difficulty
2. Pneumonia
3. Pneumothorax
4. Enlargement and weakening of right heart ventricle muscle
5. Respiratory failure
6. Emphysema
7. Lung transplantation
8. Cor pulmonale
9. Pulmonary hypertension
10. Polycythemia

Diagnosis

1. Physical examination
2. Chest X-Ray
3. Medical history and examination of the lung
4. Pulse oximetry (Oxygen saturation may be measured by placing a sensor on the finger)
5. Pulmonary function test
6. Spirometry (spirometry measures the inhalation and exhalation of the lungs as well as the efficiency rate of transfer of oxygen to the blood. This is performed in the patient who is having a persistent cough)
7. Peak flow meter (it assesses the change in breathing)
8. A microscopic examination or culture of a sample of phlegm may be obtained to look for a bacterial infection(Phlegm is a type of mucus produced in the lungs and lower respiratory tract).
9. Arterial blood gas (ABG)- it is a type of blood test which evaluates the carbon dioxide and oxygen levels in the blood.
10. CT scan

Treatment

Chronic bronchitis is a long-term disease of the lung which never goes away completely.
Symptoms may be treated by the means of :

1. Lung volume reduction surgery
2. Inflammation and edema of the respiratory tract epithelium may be reduced with inhaled corticosteroids.
3. Lung transplantation
4. Pulmonary rehabilitation
5. Supplemental Oxygen
6. Bronchodilators - wheezing and shortness of breath can be treated by reducing bronchospasm with bronchodilators
7. Oral medications
8. Cough suppressants or expectorants
9. Nebulizer treatment
10. Antibiotics
11. Drinking a lot of water breathing techniques and nutritional counting and stop smoking may help in treating the symptoms.

Prevention and control

Chronic bronchitis can be prevented by:

1. No smoking
2. Stay away from environmental pollution
3. Washing hands often to avoid the spreading of microbes.

Hope you all find this helpful for you, if you have any query related to this topic or any other topic then you all are free to contact me via contact us or you can also ask your doubts on the comment box. Thank you! 

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