Bronchitis occurs when the tubes that transport air to the lungs become inflamed. This typically produces a cough with mucus and sometimes wheezing, chest pain, fever and difficulty catching the breath. Acute bronchitis lasts up to 10 days. Chronic bronchitis lasts months or years and, in severe cases, never really goes away. The two types of bronchitis have different causes.
Acute Bronchitis Causes
The viruses that cause colds and flu are the most common causes of acute bronchitis. Sometimes bacterial infections can also trigger acute bronchitis. Other factors that irritate the airways can also cause acute bronchitis, such as exposure to high levels of dust or fumes from a large fire, household cleaners or air pollution. Patients who have gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD, a condition in which stomach acid backs up into the esophagus, can sometimes develop bronchitis, according to MayoClinic.com. This happens because some of the stomach acid makes its way from the esophagus to the airways, causing irritation and bronchitis.
Chronic Bronchitis Causes
Smoking is the most common cause of chronic bronchitis because it irritates and damages the airways and lungs, according to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. Air pollution, or breathing in large amounts of dust or fumes from the local environment or in the workplace, can also cause chronic bronchitis. People who have chronic bronchitis can go through periods when their symptoms worsen substantially. This can be caused by a viral or bacterial infection that triggers an episode of acute bronchitis.
Risk Factors
Elderly people and young children have a higher risk of acute bronchitis, and chronic bronchitis is more likely to afflict those older than 45 and it affects women twice as often as men, according to the NHLBI. Chronic bronchitis symptoms can be worsened by air pollution, infections, and allergies. Smoking or having another lung disease increases the risk of developing either form of bronchitis. An impaired immune system can also increase the risk of bronchitis.
