How to treat a cough so that it does not turn into bronchitis

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Poor environment, weak immunity, monotonous diet and many other factors affect our body. During the autumn-winter period, many suffer from illnesses of varying severity. However, sometimes a simple cold can hide a more serious illness. Bronchitis is an inflammation of the respiratory system, which can begin with a common runny nose, but with prolonged improper treatment it can develop into a more severe chronic stage, which will affect the condition of other organs.

Main reasons

Among the factors that provoke bronchitis are:

• addictions;
• incorrectly selected therapy;
• harmful working conditions;
• a sharp decrease in immunity.

Diseases of the respiratory system appear as a result of infectious infection. The mechanism of development of protracted bronchitis in a child and an adult is quite similar. The situation is often aggravated by prolonged exposure to a horizontal position. This can lead to problems with the removal of mucus from the respiratory tract. Persistent shortness of breath may be caused by poor air circulation. At risk are minor patients, elderly people, and smokers.

Why do children suffer from bronchitis?

The mechanism of disease development can be represented as follows:

1. pathogens enter the nasal sinuses and penetrate the respiratory mucosa. If the immune system cannot cope with pests, the infection goes down.
2. Affected tonsils make themselves felt with laryngitis or pharyngitis.
3. The trachea is involved in the process and tracheitis develops.
4. The descending infection invades the bronchi and bronchioles.

But the causes of bronchitis are not always associated with pathogenic flora. A small child puts everything in his mouth and inhales dust. Household items and toys can be contaminated with bacteria that can cause rapid infection.

Since the baby’s immunity and respiratory organs are not yet fully formed, infections easily invade them. A short trachea reduces the path to the bronchi, which remain quite wide in childhood.

If a baby often suffers from bronchitis, this debilitating condition can be caused not only by viruses and bacteria, but also by other causes, for example:

The incidence of children's illnesses increases when they begin to attend groups, change their environment, and recover from viral infections.

Symptoms

Characteristic signs of bronchitis include:

Coughing

• cough (first dry, then wet);
• hyperthermia;
• general malaise.

Coughing attacks become more intense over time. The patient's health will improve after coughing begins. Thanks to this process, the airways are cleansed. Shortness of breath and weakness disappear, bronchial patency increases. Treatment of prolonged bronchitis lasts for several weeks. After the main therapeutic course, a residual cough may occur. It will disappear after the mucous membranes lining the respiratory tract are restored.

Therapy methods

The treatment complex for bronchitis is prescribed based on the results of a medical examination. The diagnostic scheme must include the following methods:

• Bronchoscopy – it is used to evaluate the intensity and affected area of ​​the inflammatory process. With prolonged bronchitis, partial dysfunction of the bronchi is observed. Pathological changes are most often found in the lower parts of the respiratory system.
• X-ray – it is used to determine the degree of deformation of functional tissue. Advanced bronchitis entails an increase in its transparency.
• Bronchography - the procedure is carried out only after sanitation of the respiratory tract. In the absence of appropriate preparation, identifying the affected bronchi will be much more difficult. Based on the information received, the doctor “cuts off” the small ducts that have become a place for mucus accumulation.

  
  Bronchography

Before treating advanced bronchitis, the doctor must take an anamnesis. The list of mandatory clinical studies includes OAM, OAC, and sputum analysis. When treating bronchitis, medications, physiotherapeutic procedures, and traditional methods are used. The most effective medications include the following categories:

• bronchodilators - facilitate the breathing process, eliminate obstruction (Atrovent, Theotard, Berodual, Ventolin);
• antiviral - fight pathogens that provoke illness (Viferon, Suprax);
• broad-spectrum antibiotics;
• expectorants - help get rid of liquid sputum (Thermopsol, Althea syrup);
• mucolytic - used if the mucus is too viscous (Libexin, ACC, Ambroxol).

The drug regimen prescribed for advanced bronchitis often includes antiseptics, sulfonamides and nitrofurans.

Treatment with mustard plasters

Prolonged bronchitis can be cured through rubbing, mustard plasters, breathing exercises, and therapeutic massage. A mandatory part of therapy is adjusting the diet. The patient will have to give up alcoholic beverages, marinades, smoked foods, strong coffee, and spices. Fried and fatty foods are prohibited. In case of advanced cough, cereal porridges, fresh vegetables and fruits, freshly squeezed juices, and compote are introduced into the diet.

The general condition of a patient suffering from prolonged bronchitis can be improved using the following means:

• Honey and black radish. Remove the top and middle of a medium-sized vegetable. Honey is placed in the resulting “cup”. Afterwards, the radish must be left alone for several hours. The medicinal composition for bronchitis is taken before meals. A single dose should not be more than one tablespoon.
• Propolis tincture, milk, butter and honey. The milk is boiled and cooled. Then all the other ingredients are added to it. The resulting mixture is thoroughly mixed. Medicine for bronchitis is taken at night.
• Marshmallow root, juniper (berries), pine buds, tricolor violet, plantain, horsetail, chamomile, oregano, coltsfoot. All components are taken in equal proportions. 2 dessert spoons of the finished mixture are poured into 0.5 liters of boiling water. At the last stage, the remedy for bronchitis is cooled and filtered. The composition is drunk three times a day.

Therapy at home should be carried out under medical supervision. The treatment complex is composed taking into account the stage of the disease, the individual characteristics of the patient and his general condition. The need for hospitalization arises if:

Complications of bronchitis

• respiratory failure worsened;
• there are indications for surgery;
• serious complications have arisen;
• The clinical picture showed signs of toxic damage and acute heart failure.

Under the current circumstances, treatment at home will not bring the desired result.

BREATHE EASILY, OR HOW TO STOP THE DEVELOPMENT OF ACUTE BRONCHITIS

Despite the prevailing myth about the favorable course of most respiratory infections, we must not forget that pneumonia occupies a leading place among the causes of death, and is also one of the five common causes of death among infectious diseases.

According to etiology, pathogens of respiratory infections are divided into:

a) bacterial (pneumococci, streptococci, staphylococci), mycoplasmas; b) viral origin (adenoviruses, rotaviruses, enteroviruses, rhinoviruses); c) fungal (actinomycetes, Candida, etc.).

Many patients consult a doctor with complaints of cough. A doctor has the right to diagnose a patient with acute bronchitis - an acute respiratory disease, manifested mainly by a cough for 3 weeks, with or without sputum discharge. The doctor is obliged to exclude diseases that have a similar clinical picture: pneumonia, bronchial asthma, COPD, ARVI.

Important! In most cases (up to 95%), the development of acute bronchitis is the result of a viral infection, and bacterial infections more often cause chronic lung diseases in patients. That is why it is important to differentiate cases of acute bronchitis and exacerbation of chronic bronchitis, which are diagnosed in patients with cough and sputum discharge for at least 3 months over the past 2 years. Among the causative agents of acute bronchitis, influenza A and B viruses, parainfluenza, and RSV are most often isolated; coronaviruses, adenoviruses, and rhinoviruses are less common.

In patients with acutely developing diseases of the bronchopulmonary system, the most common cause of cough is acute bronchitis. About 50% of patients with acute bronchitis note the presence of purulent sputum, which portends damage to the lower respiratory tract.

Being a self-limiting disease of predominantly viral etiology, acute bronchitis does not require the use of antibacterial drugs in patients without chronic concomitant diseases. However, more than 60% of patients with acute bronchitis who seek medical help receive antibacterial therapy. Treatment of acute bronchitis requires air humidification and increased fluid intake by the patient; perhaps the use of antitussive drugs. For dry cough, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are used in some patients.

But not only broncho-obstructive syndrome leads to the development of this symptom, which occurs when irritant receptors are irritated. Cough can be caused by inflammatory processes (edema due to tracheitis, bronchitis, pneumonia, mechanical irritation, compression of the respiratory tract). In addition to cough, half of the patients may develop broncho-obstructive syndrome. The number of patients with acute bronchitis with passing broncho-obstructive syndrome is quite large (40% of cases). The causes of broncho-obstructive syndrome in adults can be respiratory diseases, hereditary diseases and diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. The course of broncho-obstructive syndrome is acute and chronic, depending on the duration of the disease. Broncho-obstructive syndrome is divided into local (caused by a mucus plug, the presence of a foreign body, the development of a tumor in the respiratory tract) and generalized (caused by pulmonary emphysema, COPD).

Table 1 Causes of cough

Using complex therapy to treat cough, the doctor prescribes expectorants along with antiviral and antibacterial agents. The mechanism of action of expectorants is based on the release of bronchial secretions from the respiratory tract due to a decrease in its viscosity with an increase in volume. For coughs with symptoms of bronchospasm, bronchodilators are prescribed - inhaled corticosteroids (budesonide, fluticasone).

Along with acute bronchitis, patients often experience inflammation of the mucous membrane of the cavity and paranasal sinuses. To select the correct treatment tactics, reduce the frequency of unjustified use of antimicrobial therapy with AMT, and the associated risk of development and spread of antibiotic resistance, the doctor should differentiate between viral and bacterial rhinosinusitis. The difficulty lies in the fact that most rhinosinusitis usually develops against the background of a viral infection, creating additional difficulties in 0.5–2% of acute respiratory viral infections. The main symptom of bacterial rhinosinusitis is the persistence or worsening of symptoms of a viral infection for more than 10 days.

Table 2 Antibacterial therapy for acute and chronic sinusitis

Respiratory tract infections are treated:

• etiotropic - the effect is aimed at the causative agent of infection, stopping the processes of its reproduction and vital activity;
• pathogenetically - by interrupting the infectious process, shortening the recovery period;
• symptomatically - with the help of means that facilitate the patient’s quality of life;
• inhalation - using steam and ultrasonic inhalers;
• Treatment using folk remedies, decoctions of medicinal herbs (infusions) is less common; it can be considered more as an auxiliary method.

In any case, the choice of method and means of treatment should remain with the attending physician. Self-medication is fraught with complications!

—— * Prepared based on the speech of Kirill Alekseevich Zykov , head of the pulmonology laboratory of Moscow State Medical University named after. A.E. Evdokimova, Doctor of Medical Sciences, as part of a symposium at the XXIV All-Russian Congress “Man and Medicine”

Forecast

Advanced bronchitis will end in recovery if the body's homeostasis is completely restored. This will only happen with timely treatment. In the clinical picture, after elimination of characteristic symptoms, residual manifestations may occur. This indicates that the body is recovering much more slowly than necessary.

The prognosis for prolonged bronchitis can be unfavorable; possible options include:

• relapse – this condition is characterized by increased intensity of existing symptoms;
• chronic form of pathology - the transition occurs if the patient has developed acute bronchitis;
• development of complications - the clinical picture is supplemented by symptoms of diseases provoked by destructuring of functional tissues; death.

  
  Examination of the patient

When predicting the outcome, the doctor is guided by the duration of the disease, the affected area, and the presence (absence) of obstructive manifestations. In any case, patients suffering from chronic bronchitis are registered at the dispensary. During a relapse, the patient is prescribed specific treatment.

Obstructive bronchitis

Bronchitis can be obstructive. The cause is most often an allergy, but in this case the body reacts in a slightly different way. The bronchi don't just fill with mucus. A spasm occurs in them, they narrow, and breathing becomes very difficult. The cough can be wet or dry, but with a whistling sound. The patient must have shortness of breath and wheezing.

Basically, three to four cases of obstructive bronchitis per year will be a good reason for contacting and examining an allergist. An allergist performs allergy tests and conducts certain tests with special medications that the patient inhales. The exhalation rate and inhalation rate are then measured, as well as the lung volume. Based on these data, a diagnosis is made and treatment is prescribed. Most often, this treatment is the prevention of such a terrible disease as asthma. Every person who suffers from allergies or respiratory allergosis has a risk of developing asthma many times higher than the average adult.

It all starts with a tickle in the throat. An invisible hand runs the feather along the back of your throat. Then a rumble erupts from deep within the chest. Suddenly a volcano explodes in your lungs, and for the next few minutes you cough, and your mouth fills with phlegm - lava thrown up by your lungs.

You got bronchitis, or, to be more precise, bronchitis got you. Bronchitis usually wins out as there is little you can do to get rid of it.

“In many ways, bronchitis is very similar to a cold. It's usually caused by a virus, says pulmonologist Barbara Phillips, an assistant professor at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, so antibiotics can't do much. Sometimes, however, bronchitis is caused by bacteria, in which case antibiotics work. Acute bronchitis in most cases goes away on its own within a week or two, but chronic patients may cough and choke for months. Although you should let the disease run its course, there are things you can do to help you breathe easier when you are sick.”

Preventive measures

The best prevention of protracted bronchitis is a healthy lifestyle. Thanks to a balanced diet, regular exercise, the absence of bad habits and hardening, the development of serious pathologies can be prevented.

Nonspecific prevention must be combined with specific protective measures. These include vaccination carried out during particularly dangerous periods, taking immunomodulators and vitamin complexes. To avoid complications, you need to regularly sanitize the affected area. Patients who are at risk are recommended to visit specialized sanatoriums and dispensaries.

Complications

An advanced disease can provoke the following consequences:

Asthma

• bronchopneumonia;
• respiratory failure;
• bronchiectasis;
• swelling of the mucous membranes;
• bronchial asthma;
• emphysema;
• diffuse type pneumosclerosis.

As advanced bronchitis progresses, the consistency of the secreted mucus changes. Its number is greatly increasing. A characteristic sign of a protracted illness is mucopurulent sputum containing blood streaks. The patient's condition worsens significantly due to dyspnea, caused by a narrowing of the lumen of the bronchi. In any case, self-medication is strictly prohibited.