What is Cough?

Is your cough nagging you? Do you have trouble sleeping? Are you prone to recurrent colds and coughs? This article explains what cough is.

A cough is a sudden, forceful sound made to release air and clear irritation in the throat or airway. Consequently, air is rapidly expelled from the lungs. Coughing usually serves as a protection mechanism. Clearing the throat and breathing passage of debris, microbes, irritants, fluids, and mucus, and removing anything that does not belong in the lungs and windpipe can be voluntary (done consciously) or involuntary (part of a reflex).

The causes of coughing

• Viruses are the most common cause of colds and flus
• Allergies Asthma - triggers causes the lungs to over react, and hence the airway tries to cough out what’s bothering them Inhalation of foriegn bodies - like dust, irritant gases or chemical fumes and tobacco smoking, all of which causes mechanical irritation in the respiratory tract
• Aneurysms, tumors, and adenomas can compress air passages for various reasons
• Inflammation of the vagus reflex - usually caused by ear wax or stomach distention
• When asthmatics inhale cold air, they are subjected to a thermal stimulus
• Bronchitis, pneumonia, and tuberculosis are all common infections.
• Post-nasal drip (PND) - mucus drips down from the nose into the throat, causing coughing.
• Gastro-oesophageal reflux (GERD) - This condition is characterized by the reflux of stomach acids into the throat, causing irritation of the windpipe, vocal cords, and throat.
• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) - This disease weakens the airway tubes and causes coughing as a symptom.
• Induced by medications such as ACE inhibitors or steroid aerosols
• Cough that persists as a habit long after the cause has ceased operating may be caused by some prolonged illness in which cough was prominent
• A psychogenic cough is one that has no apparent medical cause

Treatment of cough with conventional methods

There is no difference between conventional treatment for cough and other diseases. Majority of the treatment depends on the cause of the cough, and how it is treated. The doctors usually prescribe over-the-counter cough medications to all their patients. It is usually prescribed to treat dry cough with cough suppressants such as codeine or diamorphine. Cough expectorants such as mucolytic drugs are used to thin mucus, reduce viscosity, and facilitate expectoration. Additionally, COPD, GERD, and Asthma require special treatments and medications.

However, all these temporary treatments do nothing more than suppress what the body is trying to eliminate. In addition to delaying the cure and causing more complications, this will also compromise the body's ability to function in the future. Despite the fact that modern medicine has yet to find a permanent cure for allergies, homeopathy has repeatedly demonstrated its effectiveness in treating allergies and asthma. So get the consultation at Synopsis Clinic in Panvel if you are suffering from a cough.