![This mucus web, secreted by human lung tissue for protection, consists of large spaghetti-like mucin threads and thousands of other proteins. Measuring mucins has diagnostic and prognostic value. (Courtesy of Jerome Carpenter/Mehmet Kesimer)](https://news.unchealthcare.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/1159/2020/06/new-insights-on-chronic-bronchitis-could-lead-to-first-diagnostic-test-and-better-treatments-image2.jpeg)
September 7, 2017
Chronic Bronchitis: New Insights Could Lead to First Diagnostic Test and Better Treatments
A New England Journal of Medicine study describes how airway dehydration makes mucus thick – the hallmark of chronic bronchitis, the precursor to deadly COPD.