Is Chronic Bronchitis just an Infection ?

[xLulzx]

Is Chronic Bronchitis just an Infection ? I was told back last September I had Chronic Bronchitis but now today I have been told I got Asthma and that Chronic Bronchitis is just an Infection i'm a little confused as I have read different.

[Toci]

This does not make any sense to me. Infections can usually be cleared with use of antibiotics. Chronic means long term, therefore not something that can be cleared?

[xLulzx in reply to Toci]

Nor me and has made me more Confused, a Specialist told me I had Chronic Bronchitis after I had a CT Scan done she went threw my Inhalers and said they was fine, no mention of any Infection, but I had another Spirometer Test done today at my Doctors and they said it was Asthma and that Chronic Bronchitis was an Infection but from what I've read it's not.

[Hidden]

Just look it up on the net....but only one at the time...it will tell a lot about it.

There's also an asthma forum on this site .

You can get a lot of information on here to...have you got information from your tests you had done.

Andy.

[xLulzx in reply to Hidden]

Specialist told me I had Chronic Bronchitis after I had a CT Scan done she went threw my Inhalers and said they was fine, no mention of any Infection but I had a Spirometer Test done today at my Doctors and they said it's Asthma and that Chronic Bronchitis is a Infection which I found Strange, the Nurse spoke to me on the phone about 2 Weeks ago saying it's more likely Asthma, really don't know what to do now.

[Toci in reply to xLulzx]

Maybe you could make an appointment with your GP and ask him whether the specialist or the nurse is correct?

[Hidden]

No bronchitis is an infection, but chronic bronchitis - well the clue is in the word 'chronic'. This means that you either have it only in the winter or you have it permanently all year round. If you do then you are diagnosed with COPD which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis. x

[xLulzx in reply to Hidden]

The Specialist said I got Chronic Bronchitis but I haven't got COPD because I haven't got Emphysema, 2 Doctors at my Surgery kept saying COPD .. I was getting Chest Infections all the time all year around they was that bad I couldn't get myself down to my Doctors .. Not sure what my Results are but last Spirometer she said it was about 60 and the one before that was 40 but that Nurse said the 40 result was Normal (Reversibility Test) .. Should she of reweighed me as I have lost a lot of Weight since my last Test

[michaelm700]

Bronchitis is an umbrella term meaning bronchial inflammation. So, this can be either autoimmune as in COPD or infectious such as from a virus or bacteria. The latter is typically transient and infrequent in otherwise healthy people so chronic bronchitis is usually meant to infer a form of COPD. Asthma is not an inflammatory condition but an allergic response.

But it gets murky because all this overlaps (you can have COPD and asthma) and the diagnostic viability of tests is debatable by even clinical experts. So if they said you have chronic bronchitis it means you must have shown a history of recurring bronchitis (I think it's like 3 times in a year) which would imply some sort of underlying disease process like COPD. If they said you have asthma it is because you show no sign of inflammation with significant improvement using a bronchodilator such as abuterol for which COPD would traditionally produce limited or no response.

So once and a while bronchitis is due to infection, but chronic bronchitis is meant to infer a disease process and asthma is an independent issue. So I would say if you keep having bouts of bronchitis (no matter what they say is the cause at the time) with your asthma controlled, you may be want to further investigate the possibility of a disease issue. If you have less than two bouts a year, don't sweat it. And, of course, no smoking

[Hidden in reply to michaelm700]

You said it far better than I could Michael. x

[diesel12]

I have been treated for asthma for the last couple of years but get Bronchitis at least once a year and have done since i was a baby. It never clears easily which is why they tested me for COPD which has now been diagnosed, with a mild case of asthma. I'd follow this up

[soulsaver]

Maybe they mean that they thought it was chronic bronchitis, but reversability test means its more likely asthma; and what they thought was chronic bronchitis was just an acute bronchitis infection. Won't help much asking here, we're just guessing - ask your GP what's the rationale behind the change in diagnosis. If the latest is right it's great news.