Cough keeping you up at night? Soreness in your chest and feeling tired? You could have a chest cold. Antibiotics will not help you get better if you have a chest cold (acute bronchitis). If you’re healthy without heart or lung problems or a weakened immune system, this information is for you. What is a […]
Risk factors that can increase your risk of high blood pressure include health conditions, your lifestyle, and your family history. Some of the risk factors for high blood pressure cannot be controlled, such as your age or family history. But you can take steps to lower your risk by changing the factors you can control. Some medical […]
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Cough keeping you up at night? Soreness in your chest and feeling tired? You could have a chest cold. Antibiotics will not help you get better if you have a chest cold (acute bronchitis). If you’re healthy without heart or lung problems or a weakened immune system, this information is for you. What is a […]
Risk factors that can increase your risk of high blood pressure include health conditions, your lifestyle, and your family history. Some of the risk factors for high blood pressure cannot be controlled, such as your age or family history. But you can take steps to lower your risk by changing the factors you can control. Some medical […]
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Cough keeping you up at night? Soreness in your chest and feeling tired? You could have a chest cold.
Antibiotics will not help you get better if you have a chest cold (acute bronchitis).
If you’re healthy without heart or lung problems or a weakened immune system, this information is for you.
What is a chest cold (acute bronchitis)?
A chest cold, often called acute bronchitis, occurs when the airways of the lungs swell and produce mucus in the lungs. That’s what makes you cough. Acute bronchitis can last less than 3 weeks.
Causes
A virus usually causes acute bronchitis. Bacteria can sometimes cause acute bronchitis. But, even in these cases, taking antibiotics is NOT advised and will not help you get better.
Symptoms
Symptoms of acute bronchitis last less than 3 weeks and can include:
Coughing with or without mucus
Soreness in the chest
Feeling tired (fatigue)
Mild headache
Mild body aches
Sore throat
When to Seek Medical Care
Talk to a healthcare professional right away if your child is under 3 months old with a fever of 100.4 °F (38 °C) or higher.
See a doctor if you have any of the following:
Temperature of 100.4 °F or higher
Cough with bloody mucus
Shortness of breath or trouble breathing
Symptoms that last more than 3 weeks
Repeated episodes of bronchitis
This list is not all-inclusive. Please see a doctor for any symptom that is severe or concerning.
Treatment
Acute bronchitis usually gets better on its own—without antibiotics. Antibiotics won’t help you get better if you have acute bronchitis.
When antibiotics aren’t needed, they won’t help you, and their side effects could still cause harm. Side effects can range from mild reactions, like a rash, to more serious health problems. These problems can include severe allergic reactions, antibiotic-resistant infections and C. diff infection. C. diff causes diarrhea that can lead to severe colon damage and death.
Other illnesses like whooping cough (pertussis) or pneumonia can have similar symptoms to acute bronchitis. If you have whooping cough or pneumonia, your doctor will most likely prescribe antibiotics.
How to Feel Better
Below are some ways you can feel better while your body fights off acute bronchitis:
Get plenty of rest.
Drink plenty of fluids.
Use a clean humidifier or cool mist vaporizer.
Use saline nasal spray or drops to relieve a stuffy nose.
For young children, use a rubber suction bulb to clear mucus.
Breathe in steam from a bowl of hot water or shower.
Suck on lozenges. Do not give lozenges to children younger than 4 years of age.
Use honey to relieve cough for adults and children at least 1 year of age or older.
Ask your doctor or pharmacist about over-the-counter medicines that can help you feel better. Always use over-the-counter medicines as directed. Remember, over-the-counter medicines may provide temporary relief of symptoms, but they will not cure your illness.
Over-the-Counter Medicine and Children
Carefully read and follow instructions on over-the-counter medicine product labels before giving medicines to children. Some over-the-counter medicines are not recommended for children of certain ages.
Pain relievers:
Children younger than 6 months: only give acetaminophen.
Children 6 months or older: it is OK to give acetaminophen or ibuprofen.
Never give aspirin to children because it can cause Reye’s syndrome. Reye’s syndrome is a very serious, but rare illness that can harm the liver and brain.
Cough and cold medicines:
Children younger than 4 years old: do not use over-the-counter cough and cold medicines in young children unless a doctor specifically tells you to. Cough and cold medicines can result in serious and sometimes life-threatening side effects in young children.
Children 4 years or older: discuss with your child’s doctor if over-the-counter cough and cold medicines are safe to give to your child.
Ask your doctor or pharmacist about the right dosage of over-the-counter medicines for your child’s age and size. Also, tell your child’s doctor and pharmacist about all prescription and over-the-counter medicines they are taking.
Prevention
You can help prevent acute bronchitis by doing your best to stay healthy and keep others healthy, including:
Risk factors that can increase your risk of high blood pressure include health conditions, your lifestyle, and your family history.
Some of the risk factors for high blood pressure cannot be controlled, such as your age or family history. But you can take steps to lower your risk by changing the factors you can control.
Some medical conditions can raise your risk for high blood pressure. If you have one of these conditions, you can take steps to manage it and lower your risk for high blood pressure.
Elevated Blood Pressure
Elevated blood pressure is blood pressure that is slightly higher than normal. High blood pressure usually develops over time. Having blood pressure that is slightly higher than normal increases your risk for developing chronic, or long-lasting, high blood pressure in the future.
If your blood pressure is between 120/80 mmHg and 129/80 mmHg, you have elevated blood pressure. Learn more about how blood pressure is measured.
About 6 out of 10 of people who have diabetes also have high blood pressure.1Diabetes causes sugars to build up in the blood and also increases the risk for heart disease.
Talk with your doctor about ways to manage diabetes and control other risk factors.
What behaviors increase risk for high blood pressure?
Your lifestyle choices can increase your risk for high blood pressure. To reduce your risk, your doctor may recommend changes to your lifestyle.
A diet that is too high in sodium and too low in potassium puts you at risk for high blood pressure.
Eating too much sodium—an element in table salt—increases blood pressure. Most of the sodium we eat comes from processed and restaurant foods. Learn more about sodium and high blood pressure.
Not eating enough potassium—a mineral that your body needs to work properly—also can increase blood pressure. Potassium is found in many foods; bananas, potatoes, beans, and yogurt have high levels of potassium.
Physical Inactivity
Getting regular physical activity helps your heart and blood vessels stay strong and healthy, which may help lower your blood pressure. Regular physical activity can also help you keep a healthy weight, which may also help lower your blood pressure.
Obesity
Having obesity is having excess body fat. Having obesity or overweight also means your heart must work harder to pump blood and oxygen around your body. Over time, this can add stress to your heart and blood vessels.
Obesity is linked to higher “bad” cholesterol and triglyceride levels and to lower “good” cholesterol levels. Learn more about cholesterol.
In addition to high blood pressure, having obesity can also lead to heart disease and diabetes. Talk to your health care team about a plan to reduce your weight to a healthy level.
Too Much Alcohol
Drinking too much alcohol can raise your blood pressure.
Women should have no more than one drink a day.
Men should have no more than two drinks a day.
Tobacco Use
Tobacco use increases your risk for high blood pressure. Smoking can damage the heart and blood vessels. Nicotine raises blood pressure, and breathing in carbon monoxide—which is produced from smoking tobacco—reduces the amount of oxygen that your blood can carry.
What other factors increase my risk for high blood pressure?
Family members share genes, behaviors, lifestyles, and environments that can influence their health and their risk for disease. High blood pressure can run in a family, and your risk for high blood pressure can increase based on your age and your race or ethnicity.
Genetics and Family History
When members of a family pass traits from one generation to another through genes, that process is called heredity.
Genes likely play some role in high blood pressure, heart disease, and other related conditions. However, it is also likely that people with a family history of high blood pressure share common environments and other potential factors that increase their risk.
The risk for high blood pressure can increase even more when heredity combines with unhealthy lifestyle choices, such as smoking and eating an unhealthy diet.
Family health history is a record of the diseases and health conditions people in your family have had. Family health history is a useful tool for understanding health risks and preventing disease. To help people collect and organize information on their family history, CDC’s Office of Public Health Genomics collaborated with the Surgeon General and other federal agencies to develop a Web-based tool called My Family Health Portrait.
Other Characteristics
Both men and women can have high blood pressure. Some other characteristics that you cannot control—such as your age, race, or ethnicity—can affect your risk for high blood pressure.
Age. Because your blood pressure tends to rise as you get older, your risk for high blood pressure increases with age. About 9 out of 10 Americans will develop high blood pressure during their lifetime.2
Sex. Women are about as likely as men to develop high blood pressure at some point during their lives.
Race or ethnicity. Black people develop high blood pressure more often than white people, Hispanics, Asians, Pacific Islanders, American Indians, or Alaska Natives do. Compared with white people, black people also develop high blood pressure earlier in life.
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