Asthma and Chronic Bronchitis - Causes and Cures

                    

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Anything chronic is considered to be a persistent, recurrent and lasting condition. While chronic bronchitis has often been associated with allergies and/or asthma, there are many other causes that can trigger a bronchial infection. Asthma as we know is a lung disease that is characterized by asthmatic events triggered by a variety of factors which cause a constriction of the bronchial tubes and air passages.

A chronic cough, wheezing, breathing difficulties and a tight chest have also been associated with the common smoker's cough. This is unfortunate as there are many environmental factors that can contribute to an infection and caused these types of symptoms.

One such environmental factor is dust. While dust is a common substance found everywhere, it's especially problematic for those of us who may have a compromised respiratory system. A less than ideal breathing tract is found in people suffering with asthma, many allergies and yes even smokers. What's been ignored in many cases however, is that exposure to chemicals can cause a sensitivity to environmental factors such as dust.

As it's recognized that dust is almost everywhere, it's important to try to limit exposure as much as possible. This sensitivity of the person with chronic bronchitis will determine the level of action that's needed to limit dust exposure. Someone who is extremely sensitive may need special air cleaning equipment installed in their home. While another who's sensitivity is not as pronounced may be able to live comfortably in a home simply on a regular cleaning schedule. Check out the link below for free report on tips to eliminate asthmatic and bronchial cough triggers in your home.

Exposure to chemical fumes and odors may compromise an otherwise healthy respiratory system. This in turn can lead to sensitivity to other environmental factors like dust, but also both primary and secondary tobacco smoke. While the validity of the effects of secondhand smoke are continue to be debated, it has been shown to be an important breathing factor for those with a compromised respiratory system. All of these factors can contribute to the chronic cough experienced by many asthma, allergy and bronchitis sufferers.

According to the Mayo Clinic, a well regarded medical facility, bronchitis and the resulting cough can also be caused from stomach acid irritating for food pipe or esophagus. This is better known as acid reflux disease.

Acid reflux can now be successfully treated with many medications.

If you think that someone you know may be suffering from a chronic cough caused by bronchitis or possibly asthma, it's important to understand the lifestyle implications this may involve. The primary focus however, should be to get an accurate diagnosis from a qualified respiratory or pulmonary medical professional.

Abigail Franks has done extensive research into Asthma,Allergies, and their triggers. You can find out more about Bronchitis causes and cures and Asthma Triggers and Treatments on her Asthma website.

Asthma Triggers vs Causes

                    

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If you have asthma, do you know the difference between its triggers and causes? You should -- your breathing may depend on it.

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease that makes airways (bronchial tubes) particularly sensitive to irritants, and this is characterized by difficulty in breathing. Asthma cannot be cured, but for most patients it can be controlled so that they have only minimal and infrequent symptoms and they can live an active life.

If you have asthma, managing it should be an important part of your life. Controlling your asthma means staying away from things that bother your airways and taking your medicines as directed by your doctor.

When discussing diseases, it is important to distinguish between causes and triggers. A trigger is something which sets off an attack, but which did not make you asthmatic in the first place.

"Trigger factors", or "triggers", of asthma are used to describe the things which can cause an attack in someone who already has asthma..

But you hear these words used for the dog to which you are allergic, or the cat, or the pollen that cause your asthma, or the mold on the wallpaper which causes your asthma, and even about house dust mites. Instead of calling these causes, which is what they are, people call them "triggers". They say that their cat is triggering their asthma.

This is a bit like calling an on-coming car the trigger of an accident.

Demoting causes, by calling them triggers, makes people think that the causes are not so important, and that maybe they should just keep using their inhalers instead of making efforts to root out the cause of their asthma and remove these from their environment.

A cause is something, without which, an effect (such as asthma) will not occur. Thus, a cause is something without which you would not be asthmatic. There may be more than one cause for an asthma attack.

We normally think of a trigger as something small that causes something big to happen suddenly. A trigger is one type of cause. But the implication is that the important causes have to be there already if the trigger is to work, and that the trigger is not important. It is the cause which is important.

For example, if you don't have asthmatic lungs, or your asthma is under control, a cold won't give you any symptoms of asthma.

In this sense, it is fair to call the cold a "trigger factor". In addition, if you stopped catching colds, this would not stop you having asthma, so in that sense it cannot be called the true cause of the disease.

But if you have an attack whenever you go near dogs, then dogs in the past have been the cause, and a dog now can trigger an attack. In other words, a dog can be a cause of asthma and also the trigger of an attack.

Concentrating only on the triggers of the attacks misses the really important point that contact with dogs was a cause of the asthma in the first place.

Obviously, an asthma sufferer will want to avoid both the causes and triggers of asthma, but the causes are more serious. Without the causes, the triggers could do absolutely no harm.

Barbara Jones enjoys writing for several online magazines, on healthy living and health and wellness themes.

Asthma - An Allergy

                    

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Undoubtedly, allergies often cause asthma. The terms asthma and allergy are often used as synonyms by laymen and in medical terminology. Unfortunately, only a few cases of asthma are really caused by allergies.

The term allergy is difficult to define. Allergy basically means "to react differently". As a matter of fact, many asthmatic patients react differently to various kinds of inhaled substances than do healthy people. Antibodies, which are usually significant in the protection from pathogenic agents, initiate a fateful chain of reactions in the case of asthma.

Allergic asthma due to pollen is a good example. Whereas about 90 percent of the population can inhale large amounts of pollen from grasses and ragweed, which bloom during spring and autumn, the remaining 10 percent of the population suffer from hay fever or pollen asthma. The link between the nose and the airways is obvious. Anyone who suffers from hay fever, called pollinosis in medical terminology, will complain about the discomfort it causes. While everyone else enjoys the first signs of summer, the sunshine, the warmth and the blooming of the meadows, the person suffering from hay fever hides behind the drawn blinds because otherwise, his eyes run and the itching of the eye becomes intolerable. A person suffering from hay fever may also experience a constantly running nose, difficulty of breathing through the nose and may feel generally ill although the illness seems to be so harmless.

Nonetheless, the person with hay fever suffers far less than the one with pollen asthma. Pollen asthma affects a part of the bronchial system, which is far more important for breathing than is the nose. It is not known why the disease affects the nose in one person and the bronchial system in another. Unfortunately, children who suffer from hay fever while still in school develop asthma as adults. Causes for this development are unknown.

How does the seemingly innocuous pollen cause asthma?

Pollen is usually too large to infiltrate the bronchial wall as a whole. Rather, the bronchial mucosa dissolves the pollen into protein particles small enough to pass through the epithelium (a membranous tissue composed of cell layers forming the covering of most internal and external surfaces of the body and its organs). These pollen particles then encounter cells in the bronchial mucosa, which develop antibodies against it. It would appear that this formation of antibodies to trap the pollen particles is normal. Unfortunately, the antibody struggles with the intruding pollen particle without success. The formation of allergy antibodies initiates a reaction, which is more harmful to the body than if nothing had happened. The struggle between the intruding allergens and the antibodies formed by the body takes place on the membrane of so-called mast cells, which are composed of dangerous substances. Mast cells take part in the body's allergic response. They can be found in most body tissues, but are predominantly abundant in connective tissue, such as the bronchial mucosa. In an allergic response, an allergen stimulates the release of antibodies, which attach themselves to mast cells. Following subsequent allergen exposure, the mast cells release substances such as histamine (a chemical which causes allergic symptoms) into the tissue. These substances lead to a spasm of the bronchial muscles, make the small vessels in the bronchial mucosa permeable, allow blood plasma to escape into the tissue and lead to the production of extremely viscid bronchial mucus.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Allergies