Chronic Bronchitis

Chronic bronchitis is a long-term form of bronchitis, inflammation of the bronchi, the large and medium airways of the lungs, defined by a productive cough lasting three months or more per year for at least two years in a row. Tobacco smoking is the primary cause, distinguishing it from acute bronchitis, which is usually a short viral illness lasting around three weeks and resolves without leaving lasting airway changes. Its symptoms include a persistent cough that brings up sputum, wheezing, shortness of breath, and chest discomfort, and continued exposure to smoke or other airway irritants tends to worsen the underlying inflammation over time. About five percent of the general population lives with chronic bronchitis, though estimates range from roughly three to twenty-two percent depending on the diagnostic criteria used, and it commonly overlaps with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in long-term smokers. Because it is defined by duration and pattern rather than by a single test, diagnosis rests on the history of a recurring productive cough over the qualifying period rather than on any one laboratory finding.