What is it?

Bronchiectasis is a common disease which typically causes cough, often with a tendency to get recurrent chest infections.
The air tubes within the lungs, which are rather like thin straws, become widened and act as a focus for infection.
There is a very long list of possible causes for bronchiectasis. Sometimes a cause may never be found.
Here we list resources that may be of use to you.

Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland have an excellent page on bronchiectasis. They also have a useful booklet and list of frequently asked questions.

Here you will find another booklet on bronchiectasis, written by a patient.

Here is a cross sectional view of the chest (imagine looking from the soles of the feet at a “slice” of the chest. The black bit are those parts of the body containing air – you can see the lungs are black on each side of the heart (the white bit in the middle). You can see the air tubes are grossly dilated, particularly for those air tubes you can see on the left side of the picture (actually the right lung).

The British Lung Foundation also have several useful pages on bronchiectasis.

General advice about managing bronchiectasis

Bronchiectasis is typically associated with a daily cough productive of sputum (spit).
This is therefore not unexpected but you should be concerned if the volume or muckiness (we call this purulence) increases.
So, if your sputum is usually just a teaspoonful a day of yellow sputum, but then turns a nasty colour of green and there is more of it, it is quite likely you have a respiratory tract (chest) infection.
Ideally you should already have a NHS “spit kit” (sterile container) at home (your practice nurse should be able to provide you with one or two to have at home ready ). Spit into the kit and then promptly deliver it to your GP practice and they can send it off to see what bacteria (bugs) are growing.
This can be be very helpful to do 3-4 times a year, so that when you get another infection your GP knows which antibiotics to choose.
Importantly you should get a minimum of 14 days of high dose oral antibiotics if you get a chest infection (most people get 5-7 days but with bronchiectasis longer is needed).
Your GP may have to treat you before the result of the spit sample is known.
Keeping active, eating plenty of fruit and vegetables in your diet (anti-oxidant effects) and getting your jabs (annual influenza vaccination and check your nurse has given you a once off “pneumonia” (pneumococcal) vaccination which lasts for about 10 years or so).
Occasionally some people with bronchiectasis need to take long term antibiotics at home e. g. oral antibiotics such as azithromycin, or nebulised (mist like inhalation) of antibiotics such as colomycin.
If treatment in the community does not work then sometimes admission to hospital for intravenous (IV) antibiotics is needed.
Physiotherapy every day is important and your GP practice should ask a local physio to show you exercises to do to clear sputum from your chest.
Generally bronchiectasis is not regarded as a life threatening illness (occasionally it is but this is uncommon) and generally it is more of a nuisance for you but these tips and trick should give you the best chance of remaining well.
We do have a Bronchiectasis Clinic in Aberdeen Royal Infirmary for those patients whose GP needs an extra hand with managing.