The most common respiratory disease is bronchitis. - inflammation of the respiratory apparatus. There are acute and chronic bronchitis. Acute, as a rule, is a complication after flu, colds, and other inflammatory infections.
Chronic bronchitis can be caused by a genetic factor, adverse environmental conditions, and smoking. Professional factors are also chronic, namely: work with volatile aggressive substances, characteristic of the coal, cement, wood industry, in galvanic shops, as well as gas and electric welding.
Usually, acute bronchitis is a consequence of past colds and is characterized by a fleeting onset and completion without complications. Chronic, especially common among smokers, is characterized by a long course with periodic exacerbations. According to the WHO decision, it is customary to call chronic bronchitis a disease accompanied by a cough with sputum mucous discharge lasting more than three months a year for 2 years.
Acute bronchitis: symptoms
The first signs of the disease can be general malaise, runny nose, sore throat, muscles and joints, decreased performance, poor sleep and lack of appetite. Body temperature may rise slightly (rarely - up to 38 ° C) or remain normal. At the second stage, after 3-4 days, shortness of breath appears, a strong cough, initially dry, and after a while - with sputum discharge.
The main symptom of acute bronchitis is a debilitating dry cough with sputum that is difficult to separate, after which a sore throat, soreness and even pain behind the sternum are felt due to overstrain of the intercostal muscles.
As the inflammatory process extends deep into the bronchi, capturing the deeper layers of its walls, the cough gradually subsides, but there is a profuse purulent or mucopurulent sputum. At this time, symptoms common to inflammatory diseases are present: general malaise, chills, fever, headache, feeling of heat, etc.
The patient may notice the onset of recovery himself: sputum becomes less viscous and it becomes easier for him to cough up. By the end of the week, in most cases, the main symptoms of the disease disappear, and after another week a full recovery may occur.
How to treat acute bronchitis?
It is important to know that acute bronchitis may well cause complications, therefore it is necessary to conduct an examination, for which you should consult a doctor on time. The treatment should be comprehensive, which means the following: along with taking the medications prescribed by the doctor, you should observe bed rest, do not smoke (smokers, of course), moisten the air in the room, drink plenty of warm still water or decoctions from sweatshops (linden blossom, black elderberry , raspberries, etc.). Particular attention should be paid to the diet - food should be easily digestible and rich in vitamins.
In addition to antibiotics and antiviral drugs, the treatment of acute bronchitis involves the use of the following groups of drugs:
- antipyretic;
- expectorant;
- antitussive.
Antipyretic drugs (paracetamol, antigrippin, coldrex) should be used at temperatures above 38C.
Expectorant drugs, such as bromhexine, acetylcysteine, ambroxol, make sputum more fluid, which helps its removal from the bronchi.
Antitussive drugs (libexin, broncholitin) should be used only with an excruciating cough, since they prevent the free excretion of sputum, thereby increasing the duration of the course of the disease.
Acute bronchitis can be treated with folk remedies, combining them with traditional ones. At the beginning of the disease, you should prefer a heavy drink (milk with honey, tea with raspberries or lemon, still mineral water), which has a diaphoretic effect, and in the future - the use of fees that have an expectorant effect. Such a collection, consisting of chamomile flowers, leaves of eucalyptus pruneiform, peppermint, buds of common pine and sage, is mixed in equal parts and insisted. The infusion is taken 3-4 times a day for half a glass.
Remember! Only timely professional assistance can guarantee a quick recovery.