The doctor will probably listen to your chest if you think you have bronchitis. This is the most simple way to diagnose bronchitis. If he/ she is still not very sure if you do have bronchitis, you might also have do have an X- ray to the chest. Because the main symptom of bronchitis is a cough with sputum, this mucus must also be tested to see what caused the bronchitis. This ilness, bronchitis may be causes by a virus, the same one that causes the cold or by a bacteria. By anodizing the sputum that you cough up when suffering from bronchitis, your doctor will be able to see if the bronchitis is caused by bacteria. Futrthermore, because the bronchitis symptoms are very similar to those of other medical conditions, your doctor will have to run some other testes in order to rule any other health problems besides bronchitis. The conditions which have similar symptoms to those of bronchitis are asthma, pneumonia or emphysema.



Bronchitis, especially acute bronchitis is a condition that does not last more than a couple of weeks at the most. Acute bronchitis also heals on it' s own, with only little help from you or your doctor. In normal cases a single bronchitis episode must not be a cause for concern, but it all depends on the persons' s health. In some bronchitis cases, pneumonia can develop, after you have developed bronchitis. The bronchitis patients who are more at risk of developing this bronchitis complication are smokers, older people and persons that already have a respiratory condition. Infants are also more at risk of developing pneumonia as a result of bronchitis. If you have more than one bout of bronchitis, you should see a doctor. More than one bronchitis episode can be a cause for concern to you. These repeated bronchitis episodes may indicate that the illness has turned into something more serious, like chronic bronchitis, asthma or even other lung problems. Chronic bronchitis must be treated seriously, because this type of bronchitis increases your risk of developing cancer.

Antibiotics are not very good in treating bronchitis, because this condition, especially acute bronchitis is caused by a virus.