Everyone has a cough. Some people think that a cough is not a big problem and that it will pass. Others think that a cough should be treated with cough suppressants. More people believe that a cough is an inflammation of the respiratory tract and that antibiotics should be used. There is some truth to the above views, but none of them is comprehensive. You should know about coughs.
1. Cough is both an enemy and a friend
Anyone over 50 knows the saying, “The question of who is our enemy and who is our friend is the primary issue of the revolution.” In fact, there is also the problem of identifying friend and foe when it comes to health and disease. First of all, coughing is a defensive reflex of the organism that facilitates the removal of respiratory secretions and harmful factors. If this reflex is weakened or lost, foreign substances can easily enter our respiratory tract.
As we all know, elderly people who have suffered a stroke are prone to lung infections because of their reduced cough reflex. In this sense, coughing is really our friend, helping to prevent foreign bodies from entering the respiratory tract, thus preventing respiratory diseases to a certain extent.
However, coughing is a sign of many diseases. Moreover, frequent and violent coughing has a serious impact on the patient’s work, life and social activities. In this case, cough is our enemy.
Since cough and human beings are both enemies and friends, it is important to analyze the causes of coughing when people have symptoms and find out what causes it so that appropriate treatment measures can be taken.
2. There are many causes of coughing
There is a saying in Chinese medicine that “all five internal organs and six internal organs cause coughing, not just the lungs”. As the most common clinical symptom, cough has a wide range of causes, and its associated diseases are not limited to respiratory diseases, nor are they just internal medicine problems, as there may be big problems behind a small cough.
First of all, cough is most commonly associated with respiratory diseases. For example, as we all know, coughing symptoms can occur in colds, influenza, acute and chronic bronchitis, bronchiectasis, as well as pneumonia, interstitial lung fibrosis, and, to put it more frighteningly, lung cancer, and so on. However, most of the above diseases can be diagnosed within a certain period of time through the examination of a doctor.
The nagging problem is that many people go to the hospital with a chronic cough and undergo relevant examinations, including chest X-ray and CT, without finding any obvious abnormalities. In modern clinical practice, a cough that lasts longer than 8 weeks and has no significant abnormalities on chest radiographs or CT examinations is called “chronic cough”. The following section focuses on chronic cough.
3. Nasal disease and cough
There is a chronic cough called “postnasal drip syndrome”. In addition to coughing and coughing, this disease is characterized by nasal congestion, increased nasal discharge, frequent throat clearing, mucus adhesion at the back of the throat, postnasal drip, and impaired sense of smell. For this type of cough, in addition to treatment according to the doctor’s orders, daily use of Xin Yi Hua and Huo Xiang in water as a substitute for tea has a certain auxiliary therapeutic effect.
4. Asthma with only coughing but not wheezing
There is another type of cough that does not heal over a long period of time, known as “coughing without asthma”, which is scientifically known as “cough variant asthma”. The main manifestation is an irritating dry cough, which is usually severe and is characterized by a nocturnal cough.
Cold, cold air, dust, and fumes can easily trigger or aggravate the cough. It is also very common, and because of the windy season, the large temperature difference between day and night, and the high number of pollen and other allergens in the air, more patients come to the hospital with this type of illness than in other seasons. Since there are often some triggers for the onset of this cough. Therefore, it is recommended to pay attention to environmental control in daily life, wear a mask when going out, pay attention to ventilation in the bedroom, do not lay carpets, and forbid seafood during cough attacks.
5. “Stomach cough” is not uncommon
Some friends feel heartburn, acidity and hiccups in addition to coughing, so if this happens, consider whether it is a “gastroesophageal reflux cough”. This cough occurs mainly due to reflux of stomach acid and other gastric contents into the esophagus and pharynx, and is a special type of GERD with a complex pathogenesis. For this type of cough, lifestyle modifications appear to be very important. For example, overweight patients should lose weight, avoid oversaturated bedtime meals, avoid acidic and greasy foods, avoid coffee-based beverages and smoking, do not have a pillow that is too low, etc.
6. Drugs can also cause coughing
Medical advances have led to a better understanding of hypertension. More and more hypertensive patients have their blood pressure effectively controlled through standardized treatment. However, it should be noted that some medications used to treat high blood pressure can cause an irritating cough, known as a “drug cough”. If you or a friend around you has a chronic cough and there is a correlation between the time it occurs and the time you take the medication, you must go to the hospital and ask a specialist to determine the relationship between the medication and the cough, and adjust the antihypertensive medication if necessary.
There is still a lot to learn about cough. Dr. Chen is also constantly learning. I will continue to talk to you about cough when I have the chance.