Smoking is a habit that is continually under fire for its negative impact on a person’s health. And rightly so. It has been proven to be a significant contributing factor in emphysema, lung cancer, heart disease, and several other serious illnesses. Bronchitis is no exception. Smoking leaves a person much more vulnerable to chronic bronchitis.

“Bronchitis often occurs in patients who don’t tolerate respiratory infections, such as smokers,” says Evan T. Bell, M.D. ‘Asa result, smokers tend to make up the largest group of individuals who suffer from chronic bronchitis,” he continues.

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You thought you were finally shaking that cold, but this morning your cough is worse than ever. You’re coughing up phlegm by the cupful, and it feels as if someone spent the night tap-dancing on your chest. You’ve probably developed bronchitis, an often painful infection in the major bronchial tubes leading to the lungs.

“Bronchitis has many causes, the two most common being bacterial infections and viruses that weaken the immune system and leave the respiratory passages vulnerable to secondary infection,” explains Evan T. Bell, M.D., a specialist in infectious diseases at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York. “Its hallmark symptom is a cough that is productive of thick, yellowish or greenish sputum in large amounts,” he continues. But other symptoms can include a low-grade fever, chills, aches, and pains. “You may also experience some rattling noises in the lungs and chest,” adds W Paul Glezen, M.D., professor of microbiology and immunology and of pediatrics and chief epidemiologist at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas.

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