What is the treatment of bronchitis in adults?

With the bronchitis during the life practically everyone is faced - even an individual with excellent health, watching his diet, leading an exceptionally healthy lifestyle can develop an inflammatory disease of the mucous membrane and the wall of the bronchi. If bronchitis has already begun, treatment should be directed at eliminating manifestations of the disease, preventing possible complications, and preventing the transition of the inflammatory process from the acute stage to the chronic one. In many respects the answer to the question - how to treat the disease will depend on many factors, first of all - on the type of inflammatory process in the bronchopulmonary system( acute or chronic), the type of pathogen causing epithelial damage and the remaining layers of bronchial mucosa, the patient's age.

Treatment of bronchitis in adults

Despite the fact that the treatment of acute bronchitis and therapy, prescribed for exacerbation of chronic bronchitis, are based on the same principles( elimination of common manifestations of inflammation, the appointment of funds that promote better sputum discharge and bronchial cleansing, restoration of local and general immunity), the medications prescribed to different patients will differ. In the case of treatment in adults, it is necessary to take into account the age of the patient, the presence of concomitant diseases, the clinical picture of the inflammation of the bronchi itself, and the peculiarities of the development of the disease.

If the treatment is prescribed to a young patient who is rarely ill with colds leading a healthy lifestyle and is relatively satisfactory at the time of going to the doctor, the doctor may suspect that the bronchitis is viral - the treatment in this case will almost coincide with the appointments the doctor makes with a common coldand ARVI.

Effective treatment of bronchitis in this case involves compliance with bed rest, abundant warm drink, easily digestible food, symptomatic elimination of rhinitis and temperature, expectorants, inhalation with bronchitis. In the presence of positive dynamics and a noticeable tendency towards recovery, there is no need to prescribe antibacterial therapy - antibiotics and sulfonamides can not act on viruses( these pathogens are inside the cells of the body), but can have an undesirable effect on the body. In those cases when a doctor diagnoses a purulent bronchitis in a patient - treatment necessarily includes the appointment of antimicrobial therapy.

Antibiotic treatment may be required in the event that complications of viral bronchitis occur( this is evidenced by the appearance of greenish sputum and deterioration of the patient's state of health), but to prescribe a specific drug, determine the recommended treatment regimen, the duration of the therapy should only be by a qualified doctor. If the medical treatment of bronchitis was terminated unreasonably early, there is a huge chance of developing a protracted variant of the disease, the occurrence of complications( pneumonia, nephritis), the transition of the disease to a chronic stage, which requires completely different medications and long-term therapy.

In patients of the older age group, protracted bronchitis is possible - the treatment in this case will include not only the administration of drugs aimed at eliminating inflammation in the bronchi, but also to prevent the deterioration of the overall physical status of the patient and the aggravation of those diseases that already exist in the body. It is often necessary to hospitalize such patients and treat bronchitis in a hospital setting.

Treatment of chronic bronchitis requires the appointment of all those activities that are traditionally used in the treatment of chronic disease, and the simultaneous connection of drugs and techniques that help restore the normal status of the patient's immune system. In this case, the doctor can recommend homeopathy, procedures that promote the activation of local and general immunity( autohemotherapy, immunostimulants, administration of immunoglobulins), and this therapy should be continued courses and not stop after the patient shows the first signs of improvement. In addition, in this case, the rejection of bad habits is mandatory - chronic bronchitis, arising on the background of smoking, easily and smoothly flows into the chronic bronchitis of the smoker, whose treatment even after stopping inhalation of tobacco smoke( both active and passive) will take more than one year.

When a doctor diagnoses a patient with this disease with an asthmatic component, treatment should include not only "standard" therapy but also a simultaneous examination, the purpose of which is to search for an allergen that causes deterioration and bronchospasm. It should be remembered that some stages of the examination, for example, taking a blood test to determine the level of immunoglobulins and their classes, can be performed even during an exacerbation.

Other studies - specific allergological tests associated with the introduction of even minimal amounts of a potential allergen into the patient's body, are performed only in the stage of complete clinical and laboratory remission, and not earlier than 2 months after arresting the next exacerbation. It must be remembered that these tests must be performed under the obligatory supervision of a qualified physician( pulmonologist or allergologist-immunologist) and only in a medical institution where timely assistance can be provided in case of sudden complications.

Treatment of pediatric bronchitis

In cases where the disease occurs in small patients, the treatment program will differ from that for adults. In the treatment of children must necessarily take into account the frequent propensity of children to develop bronchospasm - treatment of obstructive bronchitis requires the timely appointment of funds that relax the muscles of the bronchi, inhalation, expectorants and the mandatory appointment of antimicrobial therapy. The need for such a multicomponent treatment is explained by the fact that a child, especially an early age, has pneumonia on the background of bronchitis, which can be very difficult to develop.

If a child has bronchitis, treatment with folk remedies can not be considered as the only acceptable technique, which is replaced by medication prescribed by doctors, but well compliments the doctor's recommendations. In the event that the disease occurs in the infant - treatment, regardless of the initial severity of the patient's condition, should be carried out only in a hospital environment, because children of the first year of life have a high probability of rapid development of intoxication and dehydration that provoke disorders in the activity of the main organs and body systems.

Unreasonable refusal of recommended hospitalization, intake of prescribed antibiotics, performance of special inhalations worsen the prognosis of the disease, although in modern conditions, bronchitis gives in to effective treatment.