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Bronchitis: Symptoms
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Sometimes inflammation and thickening of the lining of your bronchial tubes become permanent - a condition known as chronic bronchitis. Signs and symptoms include shortness of breath and a continual cough that produces large amounts of mucus. You're generally considered to have chronic bronchitis if you cough most days for at least three months a year in two consecutive years. Often... smokers with chronic bronchitis cough almost every day, even if it's just to "clear their throats" in the morning.
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Acute bronchitis will usually go away on its own. The best treatment is bed rest and fluids. Because bronchitis causes the buildup of mucus, an expectorant cough syrup can help thin down the mucus and make it easier to cough up. Drinking fluids will ... help with this, as well as replace the fluids you lose to the infection. See your doctor if you are still having symptoms after two weeks - you may have another respiratory problem.
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If your dog has chronic bronchitis you need to take a broader approach in natural support. Chronic bronchitis differs from acute tracheo-bronchitis in being mucoid rather than a dry hacking cough. Chronic bronchitis may be easily excited by extraneous factors such as frequent movement, exercise and palpation of the chest and throat. Thus the symptoms tend to ameliorate when the dog rests.
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Patients with acute bronchitis usually have a viral respiratory infection with transient inflammatory changes that produce sputum and symptoms of airway obstruction. The cough in acute bronchitis may produce either clear or purulent sputum. While this cough generally lasts seven to 10 days, it can persist. Approximately 50 percent of patients with acute bronchitis have a cough that lasts up to three weeks, and 25 percent of patients have a cough that persists for over a month.12
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To be diagnosed with chronic bronchitis, you must have symptoms that last for at least three months in one year and occur for at least two years in a row. Your doctor will review your symptoms and perform a complete physical examination. Tests that are commonly used to diagnose chronic bronchitis include a sputum analysis, which checks the phlegm for bacteria and other conditions; a chest x-ray, to make sure you haven’t developed pneumonia; and a test of pulmonary function, to determine how much the airways are obstructed. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease can be caused by low levels of a protein called alpha1-antitrypsin, so your doctor may order a blood test to check for this condition, especially if you have chronic bronchitis at a young age.
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In uncomplicated acute bronchitis, the fever and most other symptoms, except the cough, disappear after three to five days. Coughing may continue for several weeks. Acute bronchitis is often complicated by a bacterial infection, in which case the fever and a general feeling of illness persist. To be cured, the bacterial infection should be treated with antibiotics. A cough that does not go away may be a sign of another problem such as asthma or pneumonia.
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