Bronchitis refers to the inflammation of the airway passages leading to the lungs. Acute bronchitis normally follows a viral respiratory infection and is characterized by excessive-mucus-producing cough. When this condition persists for months together and keeps on recurring, it is termed as chronic bronchitis.Having chronic bronchitis means you would be constantly struggling to get some air into your lungs, making you feel out of breath even with slight physical exertion. It also means that you would be prone to catching respiratory infections frequently, which make your bronchitis still worse. Constant coughing, wheezing, headaches, fatigue and lack of oxygen can make your life a living hell.
By the way, did you know that cigarette smoking is the main cause of chronic bronchitis? Not only that, even among non-smokers second-hand smoke can trigger chronic bronchitis if they are spending lot of time amidst cigarette smokers. Of course, air pollution, infections and allergies only add to the misery of chronic bronchitis; so quit smoking is the only advice a doctor can give you to help you out of this miserable condition. By smoking just a couple of extra cigarettes per day, a smoker increases his chances of developing chronic bronchitis by as high as 500%Okay, here's one more hard-hitting fact for you to chew on: Even if you quit smoking for riddance from chronic bronchitis, you would still be susceptible to chronic bronchitis for a period of roughly 5 years from the day you stopped smoking. Only after 5 years of quitting smoking, your risk of developing chronic bronchitis will become comparable to that of a person who has never smoked in his life.
So, the moral of the story is: If you want to live a happy and bright life, a life without the gruelling experience of suffering from chronic bronchitis quit smoking. But quitting smoking is a thing easier said than done.
