How To Diagnose Chronic Bronchitis

Chronic bronchitis is the more lethal of the two types of bronchitis, that is, acute and chronic bronchitis. While acute bronchitis lasts for a short time and is chiefly caused by bacterial or viral infection, chronic bronchitis lasts much longer. It is also considered to be one of the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a group of respiratory diseases commonly characterized by abnormal breathing patterns.

Recognizing Chronic Bronchitis - If the patient coughs and expels sputum for about three months in a year for two consecutive years, the patient might be suffering from chronic bronchitis. Chronic bronchitis is also characterized by excessive production of mucus, cough, and dysnea, or difficulties in breathing while exerting oneself physically.

Chronic bronchitis is accompanied by abnormal signs in the lungs, edema of the feet, coronary failure, and a bluish tinge on the skin and around the lips. The symptoms disappear with the passage of time and are usually followed by the development of abnormal breathing patterns.

Dyspnea, characterised by labored breathing, interferes a lot with the sufferers’ daily routine. It turns out that breathing takes up all of a person’s energy. Subsequently, the patients loses a lot of weight because even the normal process of eating involves a major expenditure of energy.

Due to dyspnea, even the slightest exertion will be exhausting for the person. As chronic bronchitis progresses, patients experience difficulties in breathing even when they are taking rest. At this stage, patients become more susceptible to infections of all types and to respiratory insufficiencies, which pave the way for the terminal event of chronic bronchitis, acute respiratory failure.

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