http://www.lungusa.org/lung-disease/bronchitis-chronic/understanding-chronic-bronchitis.html
People often ignore the signs of chronic bronchitis until it is advanced, because they mistakenly believe that the disease is not life-threatening. But if you wait to seek treatment, your lungs may already have been seriously injured. This puts you in danger of developing serious respiratory problems or heart failure. The good news is that chronic bronchitis can be found early and there is much that can be done to treat and help manage the disease.