When chronic bronchitis is left untreated, it can lead to a number of complications. These include dyspnea, pneumonia, pulmonary heart disease, respiratory failure, polycythemia, pneumothorax, and emphysema. Dyspnea is a medical term that simply refers to the shortness of breath. This is sometimes a temporary and mild condition, while other times it’s both long-lasting and serious. Dyspnea occurs in chronic bronchitis due to the damage that is done to the lungs, which impairs their ability to function properly. Other ways to describe dyspnea are air hunger, breathlessness, an intense tightening of the chest, a feeling of suffocation, labored breathing, and heart palpitations.
Pneumonia is a condition that inflames the air sacs of the lungs. Since chronic bronchitis affects the airways that lead to the lungs and pneumonia affects the inside of one or both lungs, the infection caused by chronic bronchitis can travel from the airways to the lungs. Common signs and symptoms of pneumonia include a cough, generally feeling unwell, a high temperature, difficulty breathing, a rapid heartbeat, shivering and sweating, a loss of appetite, and chest pain. Less common signs and symptoms include fatigue, feeling ill, joint and muscle pain, wheezing, feeling disoriented and confused, headaches, and coughing up blood, otherwise known as haemoptysis.
Pulmonary heart disease, otherwise known as cor pulmonale, refers to an enlargement and failure of the right side of the heart. This is because the low oxygen levels that occur with chronic bronchitis can cause pulmonary hypertension, which refers to an increase in blood pressure within the arteries of the lungs. Pulmonary hypertension that is caused by COPD is classified as ‘pulmonary hypertension caused by lung disease’, along with pulmonary fibrosis, obstructive sleep apnea, and long-term exposure to high altitudes. This can lead to a number of symptoms, such as fatigue, heart palpitations, bluish skin and lips, swelling in the ankles and legs, shortness of breath, and dizziness.
Respiratory failure is a relatively serious complication of chronic bronchitis that refers to an inadequate exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide. More specifically, there’s an inadequate intake of oxygen and an inadequate exhalation of carbon dioxide. Chronic bronchitis affects the respiratory system because the swelling of the airways and the production of mucus can cause the airways to narrow, thereby reducing the flow of oxygen into the lungs as well as the flow of carbon dioxide out of the lungs.
Polycythemia refers to a rise in the number of red blood cells in the body, while pneumothorax refers to a collapsed lung. There are two main types of polycythemia, namely primary polycythemia and secondary polycythemia. Chronic bronchitis and other types of COPD are known to cause secondary polycythemia, along with obesity, hypoventilation syndrome, and obstructive sleep apnea. As for pneumothorax, older adults with damaged lungs due to chronic bronchitis, emphysema, or asthma have a higher risk of developing spontaneous pneumothorax. This is due to damaged lung tissue, which can result in air leakage between the lungs and the chest wall.
Lastly, emphysema often goes hand in hand with chronic bronchitis. In emphysema, the air sacs or alveoli become damaged and sufferers find it difficult to breathe. Additional symptoms include having trouble performing certain tasks, feeling less alert, and experiencing blue or gray fingernails. When both emphysema and chronic bronchitis are present, the diagnosis that is given to the patient is COPD, which is an umbrella term for progressive lung diseases.