Related articles: Bronchitis
Definition
Bronchitis is the acute or chronic inflammation of the mucosa of the bronchial tree (complex of ducts that allows the exchange of air between the lungs and the external environment). Bronchitis is often a consequence of respiratory infections, such as a cold or the flu, and in this case they manifest themselves in an acute form. Other times, when bronchitis becomes chronic, environmental factors prevail, such as cigarette smoke and pollution.Most common symptoms and signs *
- Lowering of the voice
- asphyxiation
- Pulmonary atelectasis
- Catarrh
- Cyanosis
- Dysphagia
- Dyspnoea
- Muscle pains
- hemoptysis
- Shortness of breath
- Hypercapnia
- Sore throat
- orthopnea
- pneumomediastinum
- pneumothorax
- Uterine prolapse
- Cold
- rales
- Hoarseness
- Wheezing breath
- Reduction of respiratory noise
- Ronchi
- Blood in Saliva
- Sense of suffocation
- Cough
Further indications
One of the main symptoms of bronchitis is the elimination of whitish, yellowish or greenish mucus with cough. Under normal conditions, this viscous and whitish secretion, called mucus, is produced by the glands along the respiratory mucous membranes, with the aim of humidifying the air ducts and catching dust and micro-organisms; however it is not accumulated but continuously swallowed together with saliva. When the bronchial tree is inflamed, the glands on its inner surface produce mucus in high quantities, which is then eliminated by coughing. A liquid, frothy and whitish catarrh is a sign of a non-specific bronchial irritation, not supported, or in any case only partially, by pathogens. In the presence of a bacterial or viral infection, however, the key symptom is represented by the elimination of viscous phlegm with shades ranging from yellow to greenish.
