Hello! I have been a doctor for 21 years. My name is Georgy Olegovich Sapego. In this article I will tell you about the war in the bronchi with a common cold.
Recently, people have become very hysterical about shortness of breath from a common cold, so I explain in detail.
The common cold is a seasonal viral infection in the airways. Everybody has it. Doctors all over the world call her "common cold". That is, "a common cold."
With a cold, a runny nose, cough and sore throat appear. Therefore, if you get on sick leave with a cold, then your medical records will write this case as "acute nasopharyngitis" or something similar.
Children in kindergarten can get colds every month, and adults can get sick 3-4 times a year. This is considered normal.
Sometimes a cold causes shortness of breath. There are, of course, different viral pneumonia with shortness of breath, but they do not happen so often. It's usually easier.
Bronchial obstruction
The bronchi are a tree made of tubes of different sizes through which air enters our lungs and is blown back out.
If the air does not pass well through the bronchi, then we will not have enough of this air, and shortness of breath will appear. Violation of the patency of the bronchi is called obstruction.
More often viruses provoke shortness of breath in people with bronchial asthma. Asthmatics do not get sick with viral respiratory tract infections more often than healthy ones. But with asthma, any inflammation in the bronchi can lead to exacerbation and obstruction.
Even if a person does not have bronchial asthma, then within 1.5 months after a common cold, he may have bronchospasm. At the same time, his bronchi will be slightly narrowed. This often does not bother in any way, but if you check the function of external respiration on a spirometer, then you can find bronchospasm.
That is why it is better for healthy people not to undergo spirometry for 1.5 months after a cold without special need. Otherwise, you can find bronchospasm, and the person will forever receive a diagnosis of bronchial asthma. Asthma, in principle, occurs in every tenth person, so diagnoses are made right and left. In some professions, this can affect aptitude.
When I was younger, I did spirometry to my patients myself. It turned out that bronchospasm can be found in 20% of people with any cough.
Bronchial War
There are different mechanisms for bronchial inflammation.
Viruses can simply attack cells in the bronchi. During such an attack, the cells secrete various inflammatory substances.
Our immunity will not calmly look at how viruses attack cells, and will start fighting with them. This kind of war is also manifested by inflammation in the airways.
Immune cells do not just resort to any of our sneezes every time. During a cold, they announce mobilization and pull themselves up in slender rows closer to the surface of the bronchi. There immunity organizes a temporary military camp and will watch for viruses for a long time.
It is clear that the war zone is always restless. It's as if a microscopic army had dug our bronchi with trenches and trenches. All sorts of unpleasant surprises will constantly happen there: friendly fire, allergic reactions and all that.
The war in the bronchi triggers an exacerbation of bronchial asthma. The wall of the bronchi during an exacerbation swells, and the bronchi themselves are compressed. From this, shortness of breath appears.
A viral infection is to blame for about 85% of asthma exacerbations in children and about 50% of cases in adults.
Why am I telling all this
Not every shortness of breath from a viral infection is associated with viral pneumonia.
Dear asthmatics, please control your asthma! If you have a seasonal flare-up, now is a very bad time for that. Better not to go to the hospital now. Use the treatment prescribed by the pulmonologist regularly and correctly, and if you have any doubts about this, be sure to ask your doctor.
If you liked the article, then like it and subscribe to my channel. Check out my articles on related topics:
How to assess your risk of life-threatening asthma
What causes pneumonia: dysbiosis in the lungs
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