Allergic Bronchitis

Inflammation of the bronchial mucosa - bronchitis - can be caused by a wide range of causes. If the bronchi become inflamed by exposure to their mucous membranes of various allergens, a response occurs: the nerve endings of the bronchi irritate, the blood vessels dilate, and the muscles contract. But in the end we get a cough, which is called allergic bronchitis (as well as asthmatic or atopic bronchitis). This is a protracted disease with frequent relapses.

By the way, despite all the achievements, today, to cure a person from allergies, which is a peculiar (in the opinion of allergists, inadequate) response of the immune system to an external irritant, medicine is not able to. For the time being, she can only identify this irritant, as well as alleviate the course of the disease.

So without Allergist here can not do, because only he can conduct immunological research and determine what exactly was the cause of the disease stimulus.

Causes of Allergic Bronchitis

Allergy is so many-sided that some people show sneezing and a runny nose (seasonal allergic rhinitis) during flowering plants, others have watery eyes, for example, detergent (allergic conjunctivitis). Skin rash (urticaria and atopic dermatitis) may appear when you use a product or after using a cosmetic. A lot of those who, without any cold or other obvious reason, entertain coughing fits.

That is, the main cause of allergic bronchitis is allergens that, with inhaled air, enter the human body and settle on the bronchial mucosa. The list of "inveterate" allergens includes plants (their pollen), wool (first of all, domestic animals), bird feather, and detergents, and even ordinary dust in a city apartment. Experts note that a single product, drug or allergen of bacterial etiology is capable of provoking allergic bronchitis.

In any case, allergic bronchitis in adults is not the result of a cold, but an allergic reaction. However, doctors treat this disease as one of the variants of the chronic form of inflammation of the bronchi, since the main symptoms of these diseases are absolutely identical.

If you promptly resort to the help of doctors, you can avoid the progression of allergic bronchitis, which in the absence of adequate treatment will inevitably turn into allergic obstructive bronchitis or bronchial asthma.

[1], [2], [3], [4]

Symptoms of allergic bronchitis

The most indicative sign of allergic bronchitis is an attack of persistent cough, pestering the person mostly at night. The body temperature does not rise, and if it rises, it does not significantly. But the general condition is painful, and may worsen with the next contact with the allergen.

At the very beginning of the disease, the cough is dry, over time it becomes wet, breathing becomes difficult, shortness of breath appears. When listening to the bronchus, doctors clearly hear wheezing - dry, wet or whistling. But if during bronchial asthma they are heard during expiration, then allergic bronchitis gives such a picture on inspiration. In addition, the inflammatory process of allergic origin (swelling of the bronchial mucosa and narrowing of their mouths) occurs only in large and medium bronchi, so asthma attacks do not occur.

However, against the background of the main symptoms of allergic bronchitis, sometimes signs of vasomotor rhinosinusopathy may appear - nasal discharge due to changes in the mucous membrane of the paranasal sinuses caused by allergens. Tracheal inflammation (tracheitis) or inflammation of the mucous membranes of the larynx (laryngitis) is also possible.

The condition worsens when allergic bronchitis aggravates: patients feel general weakness, and at normal temperatures, they start throwing sweat. In the lumen of the bronchi accumulates mucus, so when you cough, mucus sputum appears. Laboratory analysis of blood shows the presence of eosinophilia characteristic of allergic diseases, that is, an increase in the number of granulocytic leukocytes in the blood. And during examination with the help of X-rays, a higher transparency of the lung tissue and some changes in the blood vessels of the bronchi are revealed.

Allergic bronchitis in children can occur at any age - even in infants - and manifests itself in almost the same way as in adults: bouts of continuous cough at night at normal or low-grade fever, repeated several times a month. Often with this disease the child becomes capricious, lethargic, often sweats. Acute allergic bronchitis in children can last for two to three weeks.

Doctors categorically say: in order to avoid bronchial asthma in the future, parents of children suffering from allergic bronchitis need to take this disease very seriously and definitely treat it. And we must begin with the identification of the allergen that caused the disease.

[5], [6], [7], [8]

Allergic obstructive bronchitis

Progressive spilled (diffuse) inflammation of the bronchi caused by the long-term adverse effect of the allergen is allergic obstructive bronchitis. In this disease, the bronchi narrow (obstruction), resulting in difficulty breathing and the release of mucus accumulating in the bronchi. The main symptom of such bronchitis is bronchospasm, giving shortness of breath and wheezing.

The development of acute allergic obstructive bronchitis in adults in the initial stages may take the form of catarrh of the upper respiratory tract. However, the dry throat that is fighting the throat does not pass from the pills and mixtures, the coughing fits are worse at night, it becomes harder to breathe, and the breathing itself is accompanied by a characteristic whistle during the shortened exhalation. The temperature is low (within + 37.5 ° C), there are headaches. If the disease becomes chronic, it is fraught with the irreversible nature of its course with frequent relapses. In addition, against the background of shortness of breath, heart failure develops.

Allergic obstructive bronchitis in children is most often diagnosed at an early age - up to five years old, when the anatomical structure of the bronchial tree is not sufficiently developed, and the body can give an allergic reaction to anything from preservative-stuffed products to mold on the walls. At night, the child comes in with attacks of strong cough, but cannot cough (there is practically no sputum). But if any expectorant drug was used, the cough is accompanied by the separation of large amounts of thick sputum. There may be complaints of fatigue, headache and chest pain during and after coughing.

[9], [10], [11], [12]

Treatment of allergic bronchitis: basic medications

Treatment of allergic bronchitis must necessarily include the definition of a disease-causing allergen and maximum limitation of contact with it.

Drug therapeutic agents should, on the one hand, reduce the intensity of the allergic reaction, and these are antihistamines. On the other hand, it is necessary to reduce coughing and ease breathing, for which expectorant and bronchodilator drugs are prescribed.

Such drugs as suprastin, diazolin and tavegil reduce the manifestation of allergy. The most well-known and frequently used medicine suprastin (tablets and 2% solution for injection) is prescribed to adults and children over 14 years old, one tablet (25 mg) 3 times a day, and for intramuscular administration - 1-2 ml. Children up to 14 years prescribed 0.5 tablets (pounded) three times a day. The daily dose should not exceed 100 mg. Side effects of suprastin expressed in weakness, lethargy and dizziness. Among the contraindications - gastric ulcer, glaucoma, prostate adenoma, an attack of bronchial asthma. During pregnancy and lactation, suprastin is strictly contraindicated.

The antihistamine tavegil is available in the form of a solution for injection, syrup and tablets, its effect after ingestion reaches a maximum after 7 hours and lasts for 10-12 hours. It is not prescribed to children under one year old, pregnant and lactating women, with diseases of the lower respiratory tract, prostate, thyrotoxicosis, heart failure and high blood pressure.

The drug is taken in 1 mg twice a day (before meals). The dose of tavegil syrup for children from one year to six years is one teaspoon. Side effects of tavegil: fatigue and drowsiness, headache and dizziness, impaired motor coordination, convulsions, tinnitus, and dry mouth, decreased appetite, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or constipation.

For the treatment of allergic bronchitis, doctors necessarily prescribe expectorants - pertussin, bronholitin (for a tablespoon 4 times a day), bromhexin (for a tablet 3 times a day), mucaltin (for 2 tablets three times a day), chest preparations for cough, etc. Also widely used bronchodilator drugs that relax the smooth muscles of the bronchi and contribute to their expansion. These are neo-theoferdine, atrovent, ketotifen (zaditen), kromolin-sodium (Intal), kromoglin (kromosol), kromoheksal (lekrolin).

For example, neo-theoferdin affects the bronchial muscles, reduces the increased vascular permeability and swelling of the bronchial mucosa. In addition, this bronchodilator has analgesic and antipyretic effect. It is taken in the morning or in the afternoon: adults - half or whole tablet twice a day, children 2-5 years old - on a quarter-tablet, children 6-12 years old - half a tablet once a day. Contraindications of neo-theofedrin: thyroid diseases, impaired coronary circulation, epilepsy, convulsive states, glaucoma. And side effects can be in the form of heartburn, nausea, vomiting, headache, sleep disturbances, and heart rhythm.

Among the bronchodilators in aerosol form, which reduce the frequency of coughing episodes in allergic bronchitis and bronchial asthma, are used such means as salbutamol, terbutaline, fenoterol and hexaprenaline.

The drug Volmax (as well as its synonyms: aloprol, albuterol, asmadil, bronchovaleas, ventolin, salamol, salbutol, ecovent) helps to eliminate the narrowing of the bronchi and restores their patency. Adults are prescribed 8 mg 2 times a day (with a glass of water), and children 3 to 12 years old - 4 mg each. The drug has side effects: hand tremor, headaches, tachycardia, peripheral dilation of the lumen of blood vessels. And among its contraindications: the first half of pregnancy, hypersensitivity to the drug, thyrotoxicosis.

If the therapeutic effect of the above medicines is not sufficiently effective, the attending physician may prescribe a course of glucocorticoids: beclomethasone dipropionate (becotide), flunisolide (ingacorta), budesonide, or fluticasone. Thus, fluticasone inhalation aerosol (aka avamis, kutiveyt, nazarel, fliksotid and fliksonaze) acts as an anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic agent. It is not prescribed to children up to four years, and the local adverse reaction of the body to inhalation may manifest itself in the form of hoarseness and the development of oral candidiasis of the mouth and throat. It should also be borne in mind that glucocorticoids cannot be taken for a long time, since they are capable of activating the inflammatory process.

Treatment of allergic bronchitis includes such a modern method as specific immunotherapy (SIT), or allergen-specific immunotherapy (ASIT), or specific desensitization - which is essentially the same thing. With it, allergy doctors can affect the unwanted response of immunity to one or another external stimulus (of course, if they determine it). SIT is aimed at the immunological nature of allergic bronchitis, that is, eliminates not the symptoms of the disease, but its cause - by reducing the body's sensitivity to the allergen.

Treatment of allergic bronchitis with alternative means

Alternative treatments for allergic bronchitis are essentially aimed at the main symptom of the disease - cough. To remove sputum from the bronchi prepare an infusion of licorice root (2 tablespoons), the same number of calendula flowers and fennel seeds (1 tablespoon). A mixture of medicinal plants is poured over with a liter of boiling water, boiled for 15 minutes, and then infused. Take before meals half a glass three times a day for two weeks. Similarly, medicinal decoction is prepared and applied from licorice roots, mother-and-stepmother leaves and plantain.

In case of bronchitis with wheezing and shortness of breath, it is helpful to drink a decoction of viburnum berries with honey (a glass of viburnum berries and 3 tablespoons of honey per liter of water) or an infusion of this composition: 2 tablespoons of Althea root, chamomile and medicinal clover (or tricolor violet). On a glass of boiling water you need to take 2 tablespoons of this mixture, insist on a water bath for 20-30 minutes. Take 1 tablespoon several times a day.

With a dry cough, an infusion of thyme herb (a small pinch of grass into a glass of boiling water), which is drunk 50 ml three times a day, helps the sputum compartment well. Oregano herb is also indispensable as an expectorant (in a tablespoon 3 times a day), but oregano is contraindicated for pregnant women.

Honey and aloe are used in the treatment of allergic bronchitis with alternative means. It is necessary to take a glass of liquid honey, well-crushed leaves of aloe and high-quality Cahors. All mix, heat (preferably in a water bath) and put for a week in a cool place (not in the fridge) - insist. You need to drink three times a day in a tablespoon - half an hour before meals.

Prevention of allergic bronchitis

In both adults and children, the prevention of allergic bronchitis consists in eliminating irritants and treating respiratory pathologies. To avoid contact with allergens, you must:

• at least twice a week in the living room to carry out wet cleaning and weekly change the bed linen of the patient;
• remove the carpets, upholstered furniture and all plants from a room where a family member who suffers from allergic bronchitis lives, and soft toys from the children's room;
• to exclude access to the living quarters of the patient (or completely abandon the maintenance in the house) of a dog, cat, hamster or parrot, and also get rid of other "our smaller brothers", such as cockroaches;
• Foods that cause allergies are completely excluded from the patient’s menu.

The most important method for the prevention of allergic bronchitis and the threat of its transformation into bronchial asthma in children is the normal sanitary and hygienic conditions of their life, as well as the timely detection and proper diagnosis of this disease.

[13], [14], [15]