What is bronchiectasis?
1 Answer
A condition in which the lungs' airways become damaged, making it hard to clear mucus. It is a condition generally associated with genetic disease cystic fibrosis.
Explanation:
Bronchiectasis is a condition where the bronchial tubes of your lungs are permanently damaged. As mucus builds up, pathogenic microbes get frequent chances to increase in number.
This disease cannot be cured, but treatment can help. This disease can last from one year to your lifetime. But, the upside is that, not many people have this disease. There are fewer than 200,000 thousand reported cases in the U.S.
Symptoms
- chronic daily cough
- coughing up blood
- abnormal sounds or wheezing in the chest with breathing
- shortness of breath
- chest pain
- coughing up large amounts of thick mucus every day
- weight loss
and more.
What causes this disease?
Bronchiectasis may result from an infections, or a lung injury. Mucus builds up and breeds bacteria, causing frequent infections.
What is the treatment?
Treatment may include physical therapy and medications, such as antibiotics and drugs to help loosen mucus in the body.
How serious is it?
Complications of bronchiectasis are rare, but they can be serious. One of the most serious complications is coughing up large amounts of blood, caused by one of the blood vessels in the lungs breaking apart. This problem can be life-threatening and may require emergency surgery to treat it.
