Chapter 5: Chronic Bronchitis And Emphysema

 

Chapter 5:  Chronic Bronchitis And Emphysema

 

If you are suffering from chronic bronchitis and/or emphysema, acute bronchitis seems like nothing more than a cold.  This condition is one in which severity is a serious issue for your well being.

 

Chronic bronchitis is a lung disease.  It, along with emphysema, is known as COPD, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. This condition is one that refers to the obstruction of the air passageways that stops you from breathing normally.    You can have both emphysema and chronic bronchitis at the same time. 

 

Here are some facts you should know about chronic bronchitis.

 

1.      COPD claims some 122,000 deaths each year in the US, as claimed by a study done in 2003.  It is one of the leading causes of death.

 

2.      The largest risk factor in patients that get COPD is that of smoking.  80 to 90 percent of those that suffer from this condition will be smokers. 90 percent of them will die from it because they smoked.

 

3.      Female smokers are more likely to get COPD than men are.

 

4.      If you are a victim of air pollution, second hand smoke, or have a history of infections of the respiratory system, you have an increased risk of getting COPD.

 

5.      19 percent of those that suffer from COPD will get it from their work environment. 

 

It is estimated that some 11 million people in the United States alone have chronic bronchitis or emphysema yet many moer are believed to suffer from it but are under diagnosised by it.  In the population of aged Americans, of a frightening 700,000 hospital discharges, 70 percent of them were in people that are over the age of 65 (in 2004) showing the real risk that this condition poses to those that are older.

 

What Happens In Chronic Bronchitis?

 

Those that suffer from chronic bronchitis start by having an inflammation of their bronchial tubes.  These are your air passageways, remember and therefore are very important to be clear so that air can move easily in and out of them allowing you to breathe.

 

 




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