Respiratory tract infections (RTIs) are very common infections in the conditions of changing weather, which causes infection of sinuses, throat and lungs. The infections of respiratory tract can be caused mostly by viruses, but sometimes by bacteria and fungus too.

UPPER RESPIRATORY TRACT INFECTIONS:

The upper respiratory tract infections affects the nasal passages, sinuses, pharynx, and larynx. URTI can occur any time, but mostly in winters. This infection is generally caused by the virus or bacteria, through direct invasion of the mucosa or mucus membrane by these microorganisms.

LOWER RESPIRATORY TRACT INFECTIONS:

LRTI affects the airways and lungs of the body. LRTI is inflammation of the airways or pulmonary tissue, which comes into existence due to viral or bacterial infection. The pulmonary inflammation can be caused by smoke and chemical inhalation.

It represents the range of signs and symptoms. It is really tough to distinguish it from upper respiratory tract infections. If the problem of pneumonia is very tough to differentiate from lower respiratory tract infections, which is non-pneumonic infection and for differentiation of these two, radiology technique is needed.

CAUSES OF RTI:

There are various causative factors responsible for the RTIs. It can be transmitted to the group of people through sneezing and coughing of the RTIs infected person. This happens because of the presence of cold virus in the tiny droplets of fluid. The passage of infection from one person to other can occur through indirect contact, like, if the person infected with cold touches his nose or eyes and then touches an object, the virus can be passed to anyone who will touch that surface. Prevention is better than cure, so proper hygiene and avoid the circumstances of RTIs.

In Ayurveda the diagnoses of respiratory diseases based upon the imbalance caused due to respiratory distress, but not according to the infection caused by microorganisms. According to Ayurveda the mechanism of respiratory tract infections is based upon the three doshas vata, pitta and kapha. The causative factors for RTI are vata vitiating diet and lifestyle. In diet the presence of guru (heavy diet), roksh (dry), sheetal (cool) and vidahi (cause burn), and in lifestyle the involvement of dust, over exercises and cool place stay, can be the major causative factors for RTI. Vitiated vata body energy interacts with the body’s phlegm energy and blocks the respiratory, digestive and water channels in the body. As a result, numerous respiratory problems appear.