Chronic bronchitis and emphysema.

Chronic bronchitis has been defined by Scadding as 'the condition of those patients suffering from chronic recurrent cough and expectoration, and usually effort dyspnoea, in whom these symptoms are not caused by disease of the lungs, by localized disease of the bronchi, trachea or upper respiratory tract, or by primary cardiovascular disease'. In Great Britain and other countries where climate and industrial air pollution together produce the ideal conditions for its development, chronic bronchitis and the later development of emphysema cause a heavy mortality and morbidity. In South Africa, fortunately, the disease is much less common, but still occurs often enough to make it an important illness to guard against by prophylactic measures, and to recognize and treat during the early stages of its development.