| Bronchiectasis is a lung condition in which some of | | | | Some Symptoms of Bronchiectasis : |
| the bronchi and bronchioles have lost their | | | | Fatigue. |
| elasticity and have expanded and filled with fluid. | | | | Paleness . |
| With bronchiectasis, these natural cleaning | | | | Weight loss . |
| mechanisms have become damaged or | | | | Shortness of breath worsened by exercise. |
| destroyed. Although bronchiectasis can develop at | | | | Coughing up blood . |
| any age, it generally begins during childhood. The | | | | Wheezing . |
| mucus is then normally wafted away by the | | | | Skin discoloration, bluish . |
| beating of tiny hairs called cilia which line the tubes | | | | Cough worsened by lying on one side. |
| see figure.Normally the airways in the lung are | | | | Breath odor . |
| sterile - they are not infected. Also, inflammation | | | | Treatment of Bronchiectasis |
| and an increased number of blood vessels in the | | | | If you are able, a daily exercise such as running, |
| bronchial wall can result in a person coughing up | | | | walking, swimming, dancing, aerobics, etc, helps to |
| blood. Blockage of the damaged airways can lead | | | | clear the mucus too. |
| to abnormally low levels of oxygen in the blood. | | | | Smoking makes symptoms worse and smokers |
| Typically, bronchiectasis causes widening of | | | | are very strongly advised to stop. |
| medium-sized bronchi, but often smaller bronchi | | | | Surgery may be an option if you have a small |
| become scarred and destroyed. Occasionally, a | | | | local area of lung damage causing symptoms. |
| form of bronchiectasis affecting larger bronchi | | | | Cutting out the damaged airway may cure the |
| occurs in allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis, a | | | | problem. Surgery may be considered even if you |
| condition caused by an allergic response to the | | | | have widespread bronchiectasis. This may be to |
| Aspergillus fungus. | | | | cut out a particularly bad area of lung that is |
| Causes of Bronchiectasis | | | | acting as a reservoir for mucus and infection. |
| The common Causes of Bronchiectasis : | | | | Occasionally, a lung transplant may be considered |
| Inhaling stomach acid which has been regurgitated | | | | in severe cases. |
| back into the gullet | | | | Corticosteroids help reduce inflammation in your |
| Healing of the tubes resulting in puckering and | | | | lungs. They work best when you take them with |
| scarring, causing obstruction | | | | an inhaler. |
| Underlying genetic disease such as cystic fibrosis, | | | | Mucus thinners , such as acetylcysteine, loosen |
| where the mucus in the bronchial tubes is too | | | | the mucus.treatment of nose or sinus infection |
| thick, and primary ciliary dyskinesia, where the cilia | | | | and runny nose using nasal drops and sprays. |
| lining the bronchial tubes do not beat properly | | | | If you have mild bronchiectasis, you may need a |
| Immunodeficiency disorders, such as HIV infection | | | | course of antibiotics every 'now and then' to clear |
| and AIDS. | | | | chest infections as and when they occur. A |
| Cystic fibrosis, which leads to almost half of the | | | | change of the colour of your sputum to green |
| cases of bronchiectasis in the United States. | | | | and feeling unwell usually indicates that you have a |
| Tuberculosis (TB) and other similar infections | | | | chest infection. If you have severe bronchiectasis, |
| Mechanical obstruction of the bronchial tubes by | | | | you may find that chest infections return quickly |
| inhaled foreign bodies, for example, peanuts | | | | once you stop taking antibiotics. In this situation |
| Too little immunity to infection, for example after | | | | you may be advised to take antibiotics every day |
| infantile pneumonia from whooping cough or | | | | to keep chest infections away. |
| measles, or lack of antibodies which occasionally | | | | Improvement of airflow through the bronchial |
| occurs after a virus infection in adult life. | | | | tubes by anti-asthma treatment. |
| Symptoms of Bronchiectasis | | | | |