Symptoms of Chronic Bronchitis

List of symptoms of Chronic Bronchitis:

The list of signs and symptoms mentioned in various sources for Chronic Bronchitis includes the 12 symptoms listed below:

• Persistent cough
• Productive cough
• Cough with sputum
• Persistent winter cough that disappears in summer - an early symptom
• Excessive airway mucus secretion
• Breathlessness
• Breathlessness on exertion
• Cyanosis
• Mild fever
• Mild chest pain
• Episodes of acute bronchitis - see symptoms of acute bronchitis
• Clubbed fingers

Note that Chronic Bronchitis symptoms usually refers to various symptoms known to a patient, but the phrase Chronic Bronchitis signs may refer to those signs only noticable by a doctor.

More ways to research these symptoms: To research other symptoms use the symptom center, or to research causes of more than one symptom in combination, try our multi-symptom search.

Research More About Chronic Bronchitis

Do I have Chronic Bronchitis?

• Chronic Bronchitis: Introduction
• Chronic Bronchitis: Diagnostic Testing to confirm diagnosis
• Home Diagnostic Testing
• Alternative diagnoses and misdiagnosis for Chronic Bronchitis
• Failure to Diagnose Chronic Bronchitis
• Hidden Causes of Chronic Bronchitis
• How serious is it?
• Treatments for Chronic Bronchitis
• More about Chronic Bronchitis

Home Diagnostic Testing

Home medical tests related to Chronic Bronchitis:

• Smoking-Related Disorders: Home Testing:
  • Nicotine Home Tests
  • Home Lung Function Tests
• Cold & Flu: Home Testing:
  • Home Fever Tests
  • Home Ear Infection Tests
  • Home Flu Tests

Wrongly Diagnosed with Chronic Bronchitis?

The list of other diseases or medical conditions that may be on the differential diagnosis list of alternative diagnoses for Chronic Bronchitis includes:

• Acute Bronchitis
• Acute lower respiratory conditions
• Primary pulmonary hypertension

See the full list of 3 alternative diagnoses for Chronic Bronchitis

More about symptoms of Chronic Bronchitis:

More information about symptoms of Chronic Bronchitis and related conditions:

• Other diseases with similar symptoms and common misdiagnoses
• Tests to determine if these are the symptoms of Chronic Bronchitis
• Symptoms that may be caused by complications of Chronic Bronchitis
• Underlying causes of Chronic Bronchitis
• Risk factors for Chronic Bronchitis

Other Possible Causes of these Symptoms

Click on any of the symptoms below to see a full list of other causes including diseases, medical conditions, toxins, drug interactions, or drug side effect causes of that symptom.

• Breathlessness - see all causes of Shortness of breath
• Breathlessness on exertion - see all causes of Breathlessness on exertion
• Clubbed fingers - see all causes of Clubbed fingers
• Cough with sputum - see all causes of Wet cough
• Cyanosis - see all causes of Cyanosis
• Episodes of acute bronchitis
• Excessive airway mucus secretion - see all causes of Respiratory symptoms
• Mild chest pain - see all causes of Chest pain
• Mild fever - see all causes of Mild fever
• Persistent cough - see all causes of Persistent cough
• Persistent winter cough that disappears in summer - see all causes of Cough
• Productive cough - see all causes of Productive cough

Medical Books Online about Chronic Bronchitis

Medical Books Excerpts Excerpts of published medical book chapters related to Chronic Bronchitis are available from published medical books for more detailed information about Chronic Bronchitis.

Copyright notice for book excerpts: Copyright © 2008 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.

Related videos for Chronic Bronchitis

Patient Surveys for Chronic Bronchitis

• Patient Profile Survey
  Take Survey  View Results
• Survey about the symptoms of your Chronic Bronchitis
  Take Survey  View Results

Symptoms of Chronic Bronchitis: Online Medical Books

16 MEDICAL BOOKS ONLINE! Review excerpts from medical books online, free, without registration, for more information about the symptoms of Chronic Bronchitis.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: Signs and symptoms
(Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition))

The typical patient, a long-term cigarette smoker, has no symptoms until middle age. His ability to exercise or do strenuous work gradually starts to decline and he begins to develop a productive cough. These signs are subtle at first, but become more pronounced as the patient gets older and the disease progresses. Eventually the patient may develop dyspnea on minimal exertion, frequent respiratory infections, intermittent or continuous hypoxemia, and grossly abnormal pulmonary function studies. Advanced COPD may cause severe dyspnea, overwhelming disability, cor pulmonale, severe respiratory failure, and death.

READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »

Acute respiratory failure in COPD: Signs and symptoms
(Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition))

In patients who have COPD with ARF, increased ventilation-perfusion mismatch and reduced alveolar ventilation decrease PaO₂ (hypoxemia) and increase Paco₂ (hypercapnia). This rise in carbon dioxide (CO₂) lowers the pH. The resulting hypoxemia and acidemia affect all body organs, especially the CNS and the respiratory and cardiovascular systems.

Specific symptoms vary with the underlying cause of ARF but may include these systems:

❑ Respiratory — Rate may be increased, decreased, or normal depending on the cause; respirations may be shallow, deep, or alternate between the two; and air hunger may occur. Cyanosis may or may not be present, depending on the hemoglobin (Hb) level and arterial oxygenation. Auscultation of the chest may reveal crackles, rhonchi, wheezing, or diminished breath sounds.

❑ CNS — When hypoxemia and hypercapnia occur, the patient may show evidence of restlessness, confusion, loss of concentration, irritability, tremulousness, diminished tendon reflexes, and papilledema; he may slip into a coma.

❑ Cardiovascular — Tachycardia, with increased cardiac output and mildly elevated blood pressure secondary to adrenal release of catecholamine, occurs early in response to low PaO₂. With myocardial hypoxia, arrhythmias may develop. Pulmonary hypertension, secondary to pulmonary capillary vasoconstriction, may cause increased pressures on the right side of the heart, elevated jugular veins, an enlarged liver, and peripheral edema. Stresses on the heart may precipitate cardiac failure.

READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »

Whooping cough: Signs and symptoms
(Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition))

After an incubation period of about 7 to 10 days, B. pertussis enters the tracheobronchial mucosa, where it produces progressively tenacious mucus. Whooping cough follows a classic 6-week course that includes three stages, each of which lasts about 2 weeks.

First, the catarrhal stage characteristically produces an irritating hacking, nocturnal cough, anorexia, sneezing, listlessness, infected conjunctiva and, occasionally, a low-grade fever. This stage is highly communicable.

After a period of 7 to 14 days, the paroxysmal stage produces spasmodic and recurrent coughing that may expel tenacious mucus. Each cough characteristically ends in a loud, crowing inspiratory whoop; excessive coughing; and choking on mucus, causing vomiting. (Patients with persistent cough should be evaluated for whooping cough, because not every patient will develop paroxysms or the distinctive whooping sound.) Paroxysmal coughing may induce such complications as nosebleed, increased venous pressure, periorbital edema, conjunctival hemorrhage, hemorrhage of the anterior chamber of the eye, detached retina (and blindness), rectal prolapse, inguinal or umbilical hernia, seizures, atelectasis, and pneumonitis. In infants, choking spells may cause apnea, anoxia, and disturbed acid-base balance. During this stage, patients are highly vulnerable to fatal secondary bacterial or viral infections. Suspect such secondary infection (usually otitis media or pneumonia) in any whooping cough patient with a fever during this stage, because whooping cough itself seldom causes fever.

During the convalescent stage, paroxysmal coughing and vomiting gradually subside. However, for months afterward, even a mild upper respiratory tract infection may trigger paroxysmal coughing. (Paroxysmal coughing may not be present in partially immunized individuals.)

READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: Signs and symptoms
(Handbook of Diseases)

The typical patient, a long-term cigarette smoker, has no symptoms until middle age, when his ability to exercise or do strenuous work gradually starts to decline and he begins to develop a productive cough. Although subtle at first, these signs become more pronounced as the patient grows older and the disease progresses.

Eventually the patient develops dyspnea on minimal exertion, frequent respiratory tract infections, intermittent or continuous hypoxemia, and grossly abnormal pulmonary function studies. In its advanced form, COPD may cause thoracic deformities, overwhelming disability, cor pulmonale, severe respiratory failure, and death.

READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »

Acute respiratory failure in COPD: Signs and symptoms
(Handbook of Diseases)

In COPD patients with ARF, increased ventilation-perfusion mismatching and reduced alveolar ventilation decrease Pao₂ (hypoxemia) and increase Paco₂ (hypercapnia). This rise in carbon dioxide tension lowers the pH. The resulting hypoxemia and acidemia affect all body organs, especially the central nervous, respiratory, and cardiovascular systems. Specific symptoms vary with the underlying cause of ARF but can include any of the following: