Coughing is a common problem of the respiratory tract and often indicates a deeper problem. It can be very irritating and can affect eating habits and socialization. A cough which persists for more than 4 weeks is believed to be chronic in nature. Tuberculosis (TB) is the most common cause of chronic cough in India. TB is an airborne bacterial infection caused by the organism - 'Mycobacterium tuberculosis', that primarily affects the lungs, although other organs and tissues may be involved. Cardinal features are: 

Chronic cough with or without sputum.
Fever more in the night time. 
Poor appetite. 
Unintentional weight loss. 
Read on to know about other common causes of chronic cough and how to manage them.

Allergies: People with allergies usually have a chronic cough, which gets aggravated when exposed to the allergens such as pollen or environmental dust. Staying away from allergen provides relief. Antihistamines are also useful, which most people detected with allergies keep in handy. Inhalers might be required, if there is associated congestion or shortness of breath.
Asthma: This is a very common chronic condition, caused by inflammation and swelling of the lungs, in addition to wheezing and shortness of breath. Asthma patients often suffer from a chronic cough. An asthma attack usually happens during the night or early morning, and is triggered by colds, cigarette smoke, air pollutants or allergens, which can even include certain foods. Most asthmatics usually carry their steroids, inhalers, and bronchodilators, as the onset of attack can be unpredictable.
Bronchitis: This condition of inflammation of the bronchial region is very common among smokers and among the elderly. There is excessive mucus accumulation, which the body tries to clear via coughing. The lungs are weakened and therefore, the coughing is painful.
Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD): This is a problem of the digestive system, but regurgitation of food into the airway induces cough. GERD is a chronic issue and so most people also end up with a chronic cough. It is worse with sitting up than with sitting down. Treatment includes H2 blockers to suppress acid production and dietary changes including small, frequent meals and avoiding spicy food items.
Upper airway cough syndrome: There could be multiple problems in the upper airway, which leads to a constant postnasal drip. Here, there is constant dripping of the sputum into the air passage, which can lead to a chronic cough whenever there is impaired air flow. This can be caused by various forms of chronic sinusitis and rhinitis. People diagnosed with this condition usually resort to antihistamines and decongestants for relief.
Other causes: There are a number of other causes as noted below. Smoking, tuberculosis, congestive heart failure, pertussis or whooping cough, foreign body in the airway, cancer in the airway passage, chronic aspiration of foods, etc. can all lead to chronic cough.
The key is to identify the reason that is causing the chronic cough. Most people who are diagnosed are educated to handle it and carry the required medications including steroids, bronchodilators, and inhalers.

Suffering from Chronic Cough - How to Manage it?

Bradycardia is a condition which in basic terms means slow beating of the heart. In most cases, the typical rate is 60 to 100 beats in a minute when the person is at rest. In case your heart beats less than 60 times in a minute, then it is slower than normal. But a slow heart rate is not always a health concern even though sometimes it could indicate issues with of the heart.

What could bradycardia mean?
Some people with slow heart rate or bradycardia tend to be very fit, and they have no underlying health issues. Athletes and healthy young adults often have a heart rate lower than 60. But in others, bradycardia indicates that the natural pacemaker of the heart is not working well, or the electrical pathways have been disrupted. In severe forms of the problem, the heart may beat so slowly that it fails to pump adequate blood for meeting the needs of the body. This may show some symptoms and could be fatally dangerous.

What are the causes of bradycardia?
There are various causes of bradycardia, and some of them include:

Alterations in the heart which results from aging
Health conditions that slow down the electrical impulse through the heart. This may include electrolyte imbalance, low thyroid levels, and others.
Diseases which may disrupt the electrical system of the heart including heart attack, coronary artery disease, and myocarditis.
Certain medications that are used for treating heart problems like high blood pressure or hypertension, arrhythmia, and beta-blockers, and digoxin.
What are the symptoms of bradycardia?
When a person has very slow heart rate, he or she may experience lightheadedness or dizziness, feeling short of breath, having difficulties in doing normal activities or exercising, having chest pain, feeling tired and fatigued. In some cases, it is seen that the person may have palpitations, feeling confused, trouble in concentrating and fainting.

What s worse, some people don t have any symptoms at all, or their symptoms are so negligible that they think they are caused just because of aging. The best way to understand whether you have this problem is to take the pulse, and in case, it is slow or uneven, you must talk to a doctor.

How is bradycardia diagnosed and treated?
Bradycardia tends to come and go from time to time, and therefore, a standard EKG is not always able to detect it. A standard ambulatory electrocardiogram is used for detecting the condition, and sometimes, blood tests are also necessary.

The treatment of bradycardia is entirely dependent on the cause of the problem and its symptoms. It is worthy of mention here that in case the problem is not causing any symptoms, then they would not be treated under usual circumstances.

An Effective Guide To Bradycardia!

Has your child been coughing frequently? Is the cough chronic in nature, making your child breathe rapidly and does he/she complain about a tightened chest? These symptoms signify that your child is having asthma. Asthma is a medical condition characterized by paroxysmal wheezing respiration dyspnoea. It is common in children and an affected child experiences difficulty in breathing, and a whizzing sound is produced, especially during expiration. Asthma may lead to severe health complications and needs immediate diagnosis and treatment.

Diagnosis: The diagnosis of asthma is based on the symptoms, medical history and a physical examination of the child.

The different modes of asthma diagnosis are as follows:

    Medical history and symptoms: You must tell the doctor about any history of breathing trouble with your child or whether there are chances of other inherited health conditions. You must explain your child's symptoms properly, which may include coughing, wheezing, chest pain or tightness and others if observed.
    Physical examination: A physical exam will be carried out in your child where the doctor will listen to his heart and lungs, and look for eye or nose allergies.
    Medical tests: A chest X-ray of the child has to be carried out, along with a simple lung function test known as spirometry. This test measures the amount of air present in the lungs and determines how fast it can be exhaled. Spirometry enables a doctor to determine the severity of the asthma. Some other tests are also carried out for the identification of asthma triggers. They include allergy skin testing, blood tests and X-rays to know if sinus infections are affecting the asthma. An asthma test determines the amount of nitric oxide in your child's breath.

Treatment: Based on your child's severity of asthma symptoms and his medical history, the doctor will provide you with an action plan to treat the same. This action plan explains all the medications your child requires, the dosage and schedule of the medicines. The plan also includes points on what to do when the asthma worsens and when an emergency treatment is required. Anti-inflammatory drugs are prescribed to children who require bronchodilator medication. All asthma medicines used by adults can be used in case of children but in lower dosages.

You should give the asthma medications to your child using a home nebulizer or a breathing machine. A nebulizer delivers asthma drugs by transforming them from liquid to a mist. The child gets the drug by breathing it via a face mask.

In order to control and manage asthma in children, they must avoid the triggers and should keep away from any source of smoke. A doctor must be consulted to know about the best diagnosis and treatment methods.

Asthma in Children: Diagnosis and Treatment

Copd, which is short for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, is a severe form of lung disease that is characterized by increased breathlessness and obstruction of airflow from the lungs. People who are suffering from copd are at an increased risk of developing lung cancer, heart diseases and many other conditions. It includes progressive lung diseases such as chronic bronchitis, emphysema, few forms of bronchiectasis and refractory (non-reversible) asthma. The former two are the most common conditions contributing to copd. 

Chronic bronchitis induces inflammation in the airway that carries air to the lungs and fills it with mucus. This either completely blocks the airway or narrows it, causing difficulty in breathing. However in emphysema, the air sacs inside the lungs which inflate and deflate as you breathe in and out, lose their elasticity due to which less air comes in and goes out leaving you breathless.

The best way to treat copd is to quit smoking. Your doctor may also prescribe you medications or ask you to enroll in a lung rehab program. 
Causes:
1. Smoking
Smoking is one of the most common causes of copd. This is because smoking is known to destroy the stretchy fibers in people's lungs and irritate the airways. Even passive smoking is unhealthy. About 90% of the people having copd are current or former smokers. 
2. Genetics
Some individuals suffer from copd even after refraining from smoking. Genes might be at the helm of copd in such a case. Aatd i. E. Alpha -1 antitrypsin deficiency, is a protein in the lungs, the lack of which is one of the most common genetic factor causing emphysema. 
3. Environmental factors
Breathing in harmful pollutants present in your environment is also one of the causes of copd. Fumes, dust or certain chemicals are a few examples of harmful lung irritants. Organic cooking fuel may also cause copd. Exposing yourself to the aforementioned environmental factors for a prolonged period of time increases your risk of developing copd substantially. 

Symptoms:
1. Shortness of breath especially after exercising
2. Wheezing
3. Tightness in your chest
4. Unintended weight loss
5. Lack of energy
6. Frequent respiratory infections
7. Wheezing
8. Cough accompanied by mucus

Diagnosis:
1. Physical exam where your doctor monitors the functioning of your lungs. 
2. Questioning about your past health (smoking or other harmful lung irritants).
3. Spirometry and other breathing tests.
4. Chest x-rays and other tests to eliminate other problems which could be causing your symptoms.

All About COPD!

If you find yourself suffering from coughing spells accompanied by breathlessness and phlegm, you may have bronchitis. Bronchitis is a respiratory disease that causes an inflammation of the bronchial tubes. This narrows the airway and does not allow sufficient oxygen to reach the lungs. There are two types of bronchitis; acute bronchitis that lasts for 1-3 weeks and chronic bronchitis that persists for 3 months to 2 years.

Causes of acute bronchitis
Acute bronchitis is usually a result of viral, lung infections. It can also be caused by bacterial infections and exposure to irritants such as tobacco smoke, dust, vapours and particulate matter in the air.

Causes of chronic bronchitis
Repeated attacks of acute bronchitis can weaken the bronchial passage with time and lead to the development of chronic bronchitis. This condition can also be caused by prolonged exposure to dust, pollution and industrial fumes. This puts coal miners, grain handlers and metal workers at a high risk of suffering from this disease. Smoking cigarettes can also irritate the bronchial tubes and contribute to the development of this condition. Chronic bronchitis worsens when a person is exposed to high levels of sulpher dioxide and other such air pollutants for prolonged time periods. Some of the symptoms of bronchitis are:

A persistent cough
Phlegm
Breathlessness
Tightening of the chest
Fever
If these symptoms last for over a week or begin to interfere with your regular lifestyle, you should seek medical attention as soon as possible. Self-medicating with an over the counter cough suppressant is counterproductive in the case of bronchitis as a cough is the only way for phlegm and mucus to be expelled from the body. Conventional treatment for bronchitis includes

Getting lots of rest
Drinking plenty of fluids
Avoiding exposure to smoke and dust
Steam inhalations
Along with this, your doctor may also prescribe cough medicines and a bronchial inhalator. In cases of chronic bronchitis, oral or inhaled steroids may also be needed. Your doctor may also suggest a flu vaccine as bronchitis make your lungs vulnerable to further infections. If you smoke, your doctor will also urge you to quit as cigarette smoke can aggravate your symptoms.

In cases of severe chronic bronchitis where the bronchial tube s ability to pass oxygen is compromised, oxygen therapy may be needed. In such cases, you may need to have an oxygen tank on hand to be used continuously or as required.

Bronchitis - Common Causes Behind It!

You are out in public, and a person next to you is incessantly coughing. It is natural to be worried if it is bronchitis and the possibility of you getting infected. Read on to know about the condition and if it is really contagious. Bronchial tubes are the airways in the lungs, and when they are inflamed due to an infection or an underlying medical condition, it results in bronchitis. Bronchitis can be acute or chronic and depending on the cause, may or may not be contagious.

Types of bronchitis
Chronic bronchitis occurs when the airways in the lungs get irritated again and again. Though it s a severe health condition that requires medical attention, it is not as contagious as it occurs due to the exposure to certain chemicals, dust, cigarette smoke or smoke from a fire, air pollutants that irritate the lungs.

On the other hand, acute bronchitis that usually lasts for one to three weeks is considered to be contagious because this particular type of bronchitis happens due to the flu or cold viruses. It is the infectious properties of the viruses causing it that makes it contagious.

Transmission
In the case of acute bronchitis, since it is caused mainly due to viral infections when an infected person coughs, sneezes or talks, the viruses get transmitted to others in the surrounding. Hence it can spread quickly.

Symptoms
Some of the common symptoms of acute bronchitis are a hacking cough, production of excessive mucus, shortness of breath, and feelings of discomfort in the chest. Note that as long as the infection is present, acute bronchitis remains contagious. Once the infection is gone, it is no longer contagious, though, the symptoms, like a persisting cough, may stay for several weeks afterward.

Prevention
Maintaining a healthy hygiene, such as washing hands regularly or keeping the surfaces clean, or using a handkerchief when coughing or sneezing can help in preventing the spread of the infection as well as getting affected with it. Also, taking flu vaccinations and quitting to smoke can also assist in preventing lung infections.

Treatment
For the majority cases of acute bronchitis, the condition is resolved by itself within a few weeks and antibiotics may not be an ideal treatment option if the acute bronchitis is caused by a virus. The most recommended treatment options that can quicken the recovery process are taking rest, opting for prescribed over-the-counter medications, drinking lots of fluids, inhaling the steam of hot water, whether from the shower or a bowl of hot water.

People who have asthma or chronic bronchitis sometimes may develop acute bronchitis as a result of further complications of their present lung conditions and not as a result of virus invasion. Therefore, the chances of such acute bronchitis being contagious are less than those caused by influenza viruses or bacteria.

Thus, acute bronchitis due to a viral infection is more contagious than chronic bronchitis that is due to an underlying medical condition like asthma and other lung diseases. With a few simple and effective measures, such contagious infections can be prevented.

Bronchitis - Can It Be Contagious?

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