Bronchitis

Bronchitis: Why and How I Quit Smoking

Don't remember the day I started smoking, but I do remember why. My husband smoked. When we kissed, he tasted like a full ashtray smells. I started smoking so that that wouldn't bother me so much, but I knew better.

Soon, clothes with tiny circles burned into the fabric became the norm. I couldn't breathe easily if I walked further than out to my car. I couldn't play ball with my children; I didn't have the breath. Many times I decided to quit. And I would, for two or three hours. By the end of the second year, I had had three bouts of pneumonia. .

Was Terrified

If I had not wakened from the smell of burning fabric, I might have died, or at least been badly burned. The new skirt I was wearing had eight holes burned through it. The folds of fabric had protected my skin until I awoke. When I realized that I had risked my life, and ruined a brand new skirt, anger replaced the terror I felt--anger at myself.

• After smoking for five years, I thought I was doomed to be a lifetime smoker just like my parents.
  
• Then something frightening happened.
  
• I fell asleep in my chair with a lit cigarette in my hand.
  
• Unlike many others who died after they went to sleep with a burning cigarette, I was fortunate.
  
• I wasn't hurt.
  
• Not physically, anyway.
  

Nicotine stained fingers, face, and teeth are just the beginning. Besides the offensive smell, there is the layer of nicotine that stains everything in the smoker's home:, furniture, walls, carpets, everything. On several different occasions, both my parents were extremely sick with illnesses directly attributable to smoking, eventually culminating in lung cancer for my dad. Cigarettes were so important to them, that they budgeted the smokes in with groceries. If money was tight, we ate beans and potatoes, but they never did without cigarettes. I promised myself in my teens that I would never smoke. I broke that promise sometime in the summer of 1981. There is sure to be a grin on your face once you get to read this article on Bronchitis. This is because you are sure to realize that all this matter is so obvious, you wonder how come you never got to know about it!

Don't remember the day I started smoking, but I'll never forget the day I stopped. On June 2, 1986, I dumped the worst habit I have ever had. Was it worth it? You bet. I no longer have pneumonia every year. Though bronchitis still bothers me on occasion, and I have chronic asthma, most of the time I can breathe without trouble. Best of all, my husband quit, too, within a month of the date that I quit. We have had a smoke free home for more than 20 years, and we have both benefitted from it.

All Through High School, P.E

And health teachers preached the deleterious effects of tobacco smoke on the body. Television, newspapers, magazines, doctors, and the Surgeon General all reported that cigarette smoking caused cancer, emphysema, and many other health problems. I didn't need to hear or read their stories. Both my parents have smoked since their teens. I saw firsthand what smoking does to the smoker.

"Suck the Salt Off and Spit Out the Seeds," He Said

"Salt cuts the craving for nicotine." It worked. For six weeks, I carried sunflower seeds around with me. Anytime I started to crave a cigarette, I popped four or five sunflower seeds in my mouth. The times I felt foolish for constantly having sunflower seeds in my mouth, I would just remember the new skirt I had thrown away. Don't misunderstand. Quitting cigarettes was the hardest thing I ever did, but I was more determined than I had ever been.

After gathering all the cigarettes I had, I went to the kitchen and carefully destroyed each one, then dropped it into the trash can. By evening I was suffering, but I refused to buy more. Later, I learned my brother-in-law had just quit smoking. He told me to buy salted, roasted sunflower seeds in the shell. The more readers we get to this writing on Chronic Bronchitis, the more encouragement we get to produce similar, interesting articles for you to read. So read on and pass it to your friends.

Chronic Bronchitis is a Very Common Respiratory Illness

Around 12 million people in the United States are diagnosed with chronic bronchitis each year. Chronic bronchitis is considered to be the most common illness among the chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases. Chronic bronchitis has a high incidence in smokers and people with respiratory conditions like asthma or sinusitis are also very exposed to developing chronic bronchitis in time. In some cases, patients with complicated acute bronchitis can develop chronic bronchitis too.

Bronchitis causes inflammation and sometimes viral or bacterial infection of the mucous membrane, bronchial tubes and other organs and tissues involved in the process of breathing. The respiratory system has many natural defenses (nostril hairs, cilia, mucus) against external irritants (airborne viruses, dust particles, chemicals, pollen). However, constant exposure to these external agents can sometimes enable airborne viruses to penetrate the natural barriers of the respiratory tract, causing inflammation and infection. When external irritants reach inside the lungs, there is a high risk of complication (pneumonia). When the bronchial tubes become inflamed and irritated, they produce a surplus of mucus which clogs the airways and prevents the normal airflow. Never be reluctant to admit that you don't know. There is no one who knows everything. So if you don't know much about Bronchitis Infectious, all that has to be done is to read up on it!

People with chronic bronchitis need long-term medical treatment in order to completely overcome the illness. Antibiotics are the most common form of medicines prescribed in the treatment for chronic bronchitis and despite their efficiency in fighting malign bacteria responsible for causing chronic bronchitis, they also destroy internal benign bacteria that are part of the immune system. Such medical treatments with antibiotics can weaken the organism in time, making it more vulnerable to other infections. Chronic bronchitis medical treatments also include medicines for decongesting the airways clogged with mucus. Bronchodilators such as albuterol and ipratropium are inhaled medicines that eliminate excess mucus that causes obstruction of the respiratory tract and difficulty breathing. Chronic bronchitis treatments can also include steroids in order to strengthen the body defenses against bacteria and viruses. Variety is the spice of life. So we have added as much variety as possible to this matter on Bronchitis Causes to make it's reading relevant, and interesting!

• Chronic bronchitis is a persistent respiratory illness and it also has a recidivating character.
  
• The symptoms of chronic bronchitis are usually not intense, but they reoccur on a regular time basis.
  
• While acute bronchitis usually clears on itself within a few days, chronic bronchitis can last for months.
  
• Chronic bronchitis is an infectious disease and needs ongoing medical treatment with antibiotics.
  
• If the medical treatment is prematurely interrupted, the illness reoccurs and can lead to complications.
  

Chronic bronchitis is very common in smokers and people with weak immune system. Inappropriate diet, lack of sleep, stress and exposure to chemicals and pollutants all contribute to the development of chronic bronchitis. Smoking facilitates the development of chronic bronchitis by sustaining the proliferation of bacteria and by slowing the normal process of healing. Smoking can cause serious, permanent damage to the respiratory system.

What are These Conditions?

Chronic bronchitis and emphysema are characterized by chronically blocked breathing passages. Collectively, asthma, emphysema, and chronic bronchitis or any combination are called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Usually, more than one of these underlying conditions coexist; most often, bronchitis and emphysema occur together.

What are the Symptoms?

The typical person with chronic bronchitis or emphysema is a longterm cigarette smoker who has no symptoms until middle age, when his or her ability to exercise or do strenuous work starts to decline and a productive cough begins. Subtle at first, these problems worsen with age and as the disease progresses. Eventually, they cause difficulty breathing on minimal exertion, frequent respiratory infections, oxygen deficiency in the blood, and abnormalities in pulmonary function. When advanced, chronic bronchitis and emphysema may cause chest deformities, overwhelming disability, heart enlargement, severe respiratory failure, and death. It is not necessary that only the learned can write about Bronchitis Emphysema. As long as one ahs a flair for writing, and an interest for no medication, just natural treatment for bronchitis Emphysema, anyone can write about it.

The most common chronic lung diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases affect an estimated 17 million Americans, and their incidence is rising. They are more common in men than women, probably because, until recently, men were more likely to smoke heavily. Chronic bronchitis and emphysema don't always produce symptoms and cause only slight disability in many people. However, these diseases tend to worsen over time.

What Causes Them?

Predisposing factors include cigarette smoking, recurrent or chronic respiratory infections, air pollution, and allergies. Smoking is by far the most important of these factors. Smoking increases mucus production but impairs its removal from the airways, impedes the function of airway cells that digest disease-causing organisms, causes airway inflammation, destroys air sacs in the lungs, and leads to abnormal fibrous tissue growth in the bronchial tree. Early inflammatory changes may reverse themselves if the emerson college smoking before lung destruction is extensive. Family and hereditary factors may also predispose a intense home care in acute bronchitis or emphysema.

• Eat a balanced diet.
  
• Because you may tire easily when eating, eat frequent, small meals and consider using oxygen, delivered by a nasal cannula, during meals.
  

To strengthen your breathing muscles, take slow, deep breaths and exhale through pursed lips. - If you'free breath holding time and body oxygenation therapy, make sure you or a family member knows how to use the equipment correctly. Don't increase the oxygen flow or concentration above what the doctor prescribes because too much oxygen may eliminate your respiratory drive and cause confusion and drowsiness. You probably won't need more than 2 to 3 liters per minute .

To help remove secretions, learn how to cough effectively. If you have abundant, tenacious secretions, have a family member perform postural drainage (repositioning to drain fluids) and chest physical therapy. (Ask your doctor for instructions on these techniques.) If your secretions are thick, drink at least 6 eight ounce glasses of fluid a day. A humidifier may aid secretion removal, especially in the winter.

If you're taking antibiotics to treat a respiratory infection, be sure to complete the entire prescribed course of therapy. - Practice good oral hygiene to help prevent infection, and learn how to recognize early symptoms of infection. Avoid people with respiratory infections. Get Pneumovax (pneumococcal vaccine) and annual flu shots.

What can a person with chronic bronchitis or emphysema do? - Stop smoking and avoid other respiratory irritants. - Install an air conditioner with an air filter in your home. We have taken the privilege of proclaiming this article to be a very informative and interesting article on Bronchitis Emphysema. We now give you the liberty to proclaim it too.

How are They Treated?

Treatment aims to relieve symptoms and prevent complications. Because most people with chronic bronchitis or emphysema receive outpatient treatment, they get comprehensive teaching to help them comply with therapy ashford university the nature of these progressive diseases. If programs in pulmonary rehabilitation are available, they should consider enrolling.

Why Should You Quit Smoking – Harms of Smoking and Health Benefits

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