People with chronic bronchitis often have this experience: when autumn winds blow and the cold sets in, their chronic cough flares up. Sometimes, due to the dry autumn climate, even healthy people may experience an itchy throat and cough, with a dry cough and no phlegm. Autumn is a season prone to coughs and a period when chronic bronchitis is likely to relapse or worsen. If chronic bronchitis recurs and does not heal, it can eventually lead to complications like emphysema, which then progresses to chronic cor pulmonale, posing a great risk to health. Therefore, early prevention and active treatment are key to dealing with chronic bronchitis.
Pay attention to cold prevention and warmth. In autumn and winter, the days are short and the weather is cool. Patients should wear more clothes and not neglect keeping their lower limbs warm. In addition to persisting in soaking feet in warm water before bed every night, they should also use more quilts at night or use heating equipment and devices.
Prevent respiratory tract infections. Every "cold" can trigger a relapse of chronic bronchitis and worsen the existing condition. Patients should try to minimize visiting relatives and friends and avoid crowded public places.
Maintain indoor air circulation. Often open windows to ventilate, ensuring the indoor air is clean and fresh; when going out, pay attention to the surrounding environment, strengthen labor protection, and prevent the impact of smoke, dust, and harmful gases on the respiratory tract.
Adjust dietary structure. It is generally recommended to eat less but more frequently, with a light diet, striving for each meal to contain sufficient calories, protein, and various vitamins. Usually, eat less spicy food to avoid "adding branches" and worsening the condition. Due to the dry autumn climate, it is advisable to eat some moistening foods or medicines, such as pears, apples, olives, white radishes, tremella (snow fungus), sugarcane, etc., to moisten the lungs and prevent coughs.
Quit smoking. Smoking not only exacerbates coughs but also reflexively causes bronchospasm, leading to chest tightness, shortness of breath, and difficulty breathing, and it also lays the foundation for the development of emphysema.
Actively treat respiratory tract inflammation. Once a patient becomes ill, they should seek medical attention promptly to control the infection and prevent the condition from worsening and causing adverse consequences. Even patients in the remission period should not be careless.
Strengthen physical exercise. Patients can choose a suitable exercise method according to their own conditions, persevere in it, improve their physical fitness, enhance their cold resistance and disease resistance, and ultimately achieve the goal of reducing the frequency of illness.
Some suggest that "late autumn" is the best time to prevent and treat cough and asthma. Because most patients with chronic bronchitis belong to the type of spleen and kidney yang deficiency, with the manifestation in the lungs and the root cause in the spleen and kidneys. During the remission period in autumn, taking advantage of the flourishing yang energy in nature, one can follow the seasonal trend to strengthen the body and consolidate the root. When the spleen and kidney yang are vigorous, the body's immune system is enhanced, and then cough and asthma in winter will have no chance to occur. This is the so-called "treating winter diseases in autumn."