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COLD IN THE CHEST. (Acute Bronchitis. Inflammation of Bronchial Tubes)

Categories: Respiratory Diseases

This is an acute inflammation of the larger and medium sized bronchial

tubes.







Causes. Youth and old age are more predisposed to it. Lack of fresh air

and exercise, dusty work, poor general health, dampness and changeable

weather in winter and early spring. It may be secondary to cold,

pharyngitis, measles, typhoid fever, malaria, asthma, and heart disease.



Symptom
. There is a feeling of oppression with chilliness and pain in

the back, a dry, tight feeling beneath the breastbone with a dry harsh

cough. This may cause headache and pain, and a raw feeling in the chest,

chiefly in front. There may be a temperature of one hundred or one hundred

three or less. After a few days there is a thick, sticky secretion; it is

profuse. The other symptoms, except the cough, subside. This generally

stops in ten days in a favorable case, or it may become chronic. In

infants or old people it may extend to the smaller tubes causing

broncho-pneumonia. There is more danger in infants than in older people.



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