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Can Coffee Affect Bronchitis?

Sep 7, 2011 | By Vanessa Newman
Can Coffee Affect Bronchitis?
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Just breathing takes effort when you have bronchitis. The smallest extra movement can cause a coughing fit that leads to gagging and spitting up. When you have bronchitis, you want to do everything possible to ease symptoms and clear up the infection as quickly as possible. What you eat and drink can make matters worse or better. Coffee may deplete fluids, but some think caffeine can help. Always consult your doctor before trying a suggested alternative remedy.

Bronchitis

The bronchial tubes help you move air in and out of your lungs. With an infection, your tubes become swollen, making the movement of air more laborious. Acute bronchitis may follow after you get a cold or other respiratory infection and clears up relatively quickly, although it could remain as a lingering cough. Chronic bronchitis appears and reappears and is associated with other underlying medical conditions, or is due to lifestyle choices like if you smoke. Most cases of bronchitis are viral. Symptoms of the condition include coughing, tightness in the chest, fatigue, blue lips, shortness of breath and general malaise.

Coffee and Respiratory Function

Coffee contains caffeine, which is a stimulant that does excite the respiratory system and is used for premature infants who have respiratory distress. It is also may be a bronchodilator but the research is not clear. Research reported by EJ Walsh and associates in the article, "Caffeine for Asthma," published by Cochrane Reviews, shows that caffeine could affect asthma testing but it is difficult to determine if it could improve asthmatic symptoms.

Asthmatic Bronchitis

If you are diagnosed with asthma or restrictive airway disease, you may get asthmatic bronchitis. A specific irritant like a certain grass or pollen can trigger you. So can cold, dry air or animal dander. It is often recommended on asthma blogs that sufferers try using caffeine for an asthma attack. This advice is not necessarily supported by the medical world. Additionally, the effect of coffee on asthmatic bronchitis is even less clear. In general, the research on caffeine and pulmonary function is lacking.

Caffeine and Dehydration

Caffeine is a diuretic that leads the body to remove fluid. When you have an infection, especially of the lungs, drinking fluids and staying hydrated is important for relief of symptoms. Caffeine can dehydrate the body instead of keeping it fully hydrated.

References

Article reviewed by Knuckles Last updated on: Sep 7, 2011

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