Pneumonia is an “inside your lungs” inflammation normally caused by bacteria, virus or fungus infections. You can also get pneumonia by inhaling a liquid or chemical.
The most serious and common adult pneumonia is caused by bacteria and its common signal of its lung invasion is by a “sudden, out of the blue” severe shaking chills episode. This chilling event is typically followed by:
cough
high fever
chest pains
rapid breathing
breathing difficulty
shortness of breath
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a lung disease. Essentially, the tubes that carry air in and out of your lungs are partly obstructed, making it difficult to get air in and out.
COPD develops slowly, and it may take years before you notice symptom of feeling a shortness of breath. The signs and symptoms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) include:
chronic cough
chest tightness
sputum (mucus) production
short of breath, especially with exercise
wheezing ~ a whistling/squeaky sound when you breathe
A cough that doesn’t go away or coughing up lots of mucus are common signs. These signs often occur years before the flow of air in and out of the lungs is reduced. The severity of the symptoms depends on how much of your lung has been destroyed.
Bronchitis means inflammation of your main air passageways (bronchi) in your lungs. When these air movers are inflamed you typically experience a cough, shortness of breath and chest tightness. Also, bronchitis caused coughing may bring up some “yucky looking” thick yellow or greenish mucus.
The two main types of bronchitis are acute and chronic.
Acute bronchitis is most often caused by the common cold virus. Your symptoms will usually start with a sore throat, runny nose or sinus infection, which spreads to your bronchial airways.
In most instances, your body will recover from acute bronchitis on its own in a couple of days to a week with plenty of rest, lots of fluids (water and fruit juices) and an increase in environmental humidity.