Clearing the Airways

Bronchitis, which is an inflammation of the trachea and the bronchi, the main airways of the lung, kills more than 3,000 people each year in the United States.

Here are other facts about chronic bronchitis:

* More than 14 million cases are reported each year, and 10.7 million sufferers are younger than 45.

* More common among women than men, the disease afflicts more people in the southern United States than in any other region.

* Symptoms include a daily cough that produces mucus, breathlessness and wheezing and does not improve.

* Repeated infections among chronic bronchitis sufferers can eventually thicken and distort the airways, leading to narrowing and possible blockage.

Sources: National Center for Health Statistics and Johns Hopkins Family Health Book (HarperCollins, 1999)