You suffer from acute bronchitis attacks with fever, coughing and spitting when you have severe cold.
If you have coughing and spitting for several months and if the symptoms return every year, you have chronic bronchitis.
Bronchitis and cigarette smoking:
Cigarette smoking is the major cause of chronic bronchitis. When you inhale cigarette smoke into the lungs, it irritates the airways and produce mucus.
Mucus blocks your airways and makes it difficult to get air into the lungs. Chronic bronchitis can cause a phlegm producing cough, breathing difficulty and tightness in the chest.
Doctor can easily diagnose chronic bronchitis, if you are a smoker. He/she may conduct test to see whether your lungs are damaged by blowing into a machine in order to test how much air is in the lungs.
If you are suffering with chronic bronchitis, you should stop smoking immediately to allow your lungs to heal. If you give up smoking, you can breathe more easily.
You can use inhalers that contain medicine which helps to open the airways of the lungs to treat the condition. Your doctor also prescribes pills or steroids to decrease the symptoms of bronchitis.
Pollutant linked to bronchitis in toddlers:
Toddlers who breathe polluted air are more likely to be diagnosed with bronchitis than children living in clean environments. A pollution component known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are found in children aged two to four years old.
Environmental regulations are focusing in controlling particulate emissions that is tiny particles in the air as well as sulfur dioxide and ozone.
You can control bronchitis in your child by following some preventive steps. Use a humidifier or vaporizer if you have dry air in your home to help your child breathe easier. Make your child to drink plenty of liquids, as it helps to keep his passages moist and able to get rid off germs and irritants.
What happens when you take antihistamines for acute bronchitis?
Antihistamines can be harmful for the treatment of acute bronchitis. Antihistamines thicken the secretions of mucus. To recover from bronchitis, expelling the infected mucus through coughing can be beneficial. But, mucus expulsion may be hindered if it becomes thick.
Antihistamines help bacteria to persist and multiply in the lungs by increasing its spending time in a warm, moist environment of thickened mucus.
If you use antihistamines along with cough syrup, it encourages the mucus production and thickening can result which can be more harmful.
Medications that can treat bronchitis:
Bronchodilator medications which are inhaled as sprays or taken orally help to relieve chronic bronchitis symptoms by relaxing and opening the air passages into the lungs.
Steroids, which can be inhaled as sprays help to relieve the symptoms. Long term use of inhaled steroids can cause side effects such as high blood pressure, diabetes [diabetes diet plan], weakened bones and cataracts.
You should take the medications which are prescribed by the doctor and if you notice any side effects, inform to your doctor.
