Most experts agree that the main cause of chronic bronchitis is cigarette smoking. Air pollution and your work environment may also play a role. This is especially true if you also smoke. Below are the most common symptoms of chronic bronchitis. But each person may have slightly different symptoms.
People with chronic bronchitis often have a cough and make mucus for many years before they have shortness of breath. The symptoms of chronic bronchitis may look like other lung conditions or health problems. See your healthcare provider for a diagnosis. Your healthcare provider will take a complete health history and do a physical exam.
He or she may order the following tests:. The tests are often done with special machines that you breathe into. They may include:. This test uses a spirometer device to see how well your lungs are working.
It is one of the simplest, most common pulmonary function tests. It may be used for any or all of these reasons:. In response to irritation, the body forces air through the airways by a rapid and strong contraction of the muscles of respiration—a cough. The rapid movement of air in the breathing tubes helps remove mucus from the lungs into the throat. People with COPD often cough a great deal in the morning after a large amount of mucus has built up overnight smoker's cough.
The lungs are where the blood picks up oxygen to deliver throughout the body and where it disposes of carbon dioxide that is a by-product of the body processes.
COPD affects this process. Emphysema can lead to destruction of the alveoli, the tiny air sacs that allow oxygen to get into the blood. Their destruction leads to the formation of large air pockets in the lung called bullae.
These bullae do not exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide like normal lung tissue. Also, the bullae can become very large. It may also occur more frequently in individuals who have a family history of bronchitis. To diagnose chronic bronchitis, your doctor will look for a productive cough producing mucus that lasts at least three months and happens multiple times over the course of at least two years.
Tests used to diagnose chronic bronchitis include pulmonary function tests, chest X-rays or CT scans. Chronic bronchitis is not curable but there are a number of treatments that can help you manage your symptoms.
These include bronchodilators that open your airways, steroids to reduce inflammation, oxygen therapy and pulmonary rehabilitation. Make a Donation Your tax-deductible donation funds lung disease and lung cancer research, new treatments, lung health education, and more. Make a Donation. It can cause serious long-term disability and early death. There is no cure for COPD, but it is often preventable and treatable. COPD is referred to as chronic bronchitis or emphysema.
In the late s, the tobacco industry intensely targeted women. This resulted in a huge increase in women smoking. We are still seeing new cases of smoking related diseases, including COPD, as women age. Women are more vulnerable than men to lung damage from cigarette smoke and other pollutants. Their lungs are smaller and estrogen may play a role in worsening lung disease. Women are often misdiagnosed. This report presents descriptions, figures, and links to more detailed tables on trends and current patterns of the burden of COPD.
Missing the Warning Signs COPD is often not found until the disease is very advanced because people do not know the early warning signs.
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