What is chronic bronchitis and how to prevent and treat it

Chronic bronchitis is defined as a chronic inflammatory reaction of the bronchial mucosa and surrounding tissues due to various causes. The main diagnostic criterion is the presence of cough and sputum or wheezing for three consecutive months per year for two or more years, excluding other cardiopulmonary diseases. The main common causes of chronic bronchitis are infectious factors, commonly viruses and bacteria, and physicochemical factors, including smoking, exposure to fumes and industrial waste gases, and environmental pollution. The typical clinical symptoms of chronic bronchitis are coughing and phlegm, and in more severe cases, chest pain, chest tightness, and even difficulty breathing. Clinically, it can be divided into two categories: typical common chronic bronchitis and wheezing bronchitis. The latter is accompanied by shortness of breath and wheezing, similar to the typical symptoms of bronchial asthma, in addition to the typical symptoms of chronic bronchitis. Treatment of chronic bronchitis is based on symptomatic treatment and patient therapy. For coughing, coughing and wheezing during acute attacks, you can use cough and phlegm relieving drugs, for example, Chinese medicine can be chosen from clear lung and phlegm relieving granules, lantern leaf granules, orange red phlegm and cough liquid, snake bile and Chuanbei liquid, etc. Western medicine can be chosen from compound aminoglutethimide oral solution, aminoglutethimide syrup, carboxymethylstilbestrol oral solution, etc. When accompanied with wheezing, you can take compound methocarbamol capsule, and you can also use budesonide nebulizer solution, salbutamol nebulizer solution, terbutaline nebulizer solution, chymotrypsin and other nebulizer inhalation treatment to achieve symptomatic treatment to stop cough, resolve phlegm and calm wheezing. Etiological treatment is mainly anti-pathogens, such as anti-viral can use ribavirin, oseltamivir, cytarabine, etc., and anti-bacterial can choose penicillin, amoxicillin, cefoperazone, clindamycin, levofloxacin and other drugs. Normally, we should pay attention to proper exercise and fitness, ensure good sleep status, as well as a light and nutritionally balanced diet structure to enhance physical fitness, improve cardiopulmonary function and prevent acute attacks.