Cough is present in the life of all people with more or less frequency. Sometimes it’s worrisome and other times it’s not. Coughing is a reflex caused by some of the components of the respiratory tract, that is, by the larynx, trachea, and bronchi. In reality, coughing is nothing more than a defense mechanism of our body to keep the throat and airways clear. But there are different types of cough, as well as different are the reasons that cause it.
Types of cough
- The cough can be dry or productive, which is when phlegm appears. The cough is also differentiated in case it is an acute cough, which is one that appears suddenly and disappears about three weeks later, from the chronic cough, which lasts more than eight weeks.
- The causes for a cough to appear can be very different and its severity too, because it can be a simple mechanism to eliminate impurities or be the indicator of an important ailment or disease.
- The most common cause of a cough is an infection of the respiratory tract, of the cold or flu type. But it can also be due to taking medications to control blood pressure, an allergy, asthma or sinusitis. Other causes of the appearance of cough derive from diseases such as gastro esophageal reflux, pulmonary emphysema, pneumonia or bronchitis. And of course smoking.
Cough treatment
- As it is a symptom and not a disease itself, cough needs a correct diagnosis in order to treat it. The doctor will have to do blood and allergy tests, but above all, sputum analysis is essential to determine the bacteria that cause coughing, tuberculosis, or cells that indicate lung cancer. Other tests such as a chest X-ray, bronchoscopy or scanner will be performed later in case the cause of the cough does not appear.
- The cough should be treated in the case of smoking, whose only treatment is to quit smoking. In a high percentage of patients, the cough decreases considerably or disappears completely about four weeks after quitting smoking.
- In the case of bronchitis, as it is an infection, the recommended treatment is the use of antibiotics until the infection subsides. Coughs caused by sinusitis are also treated with antibiotics and decongestant drops. More complicated is the treatment of cough in cases of asthma because there are some inhalers that cause even more coughing.
- Therefore, the treatment of cough will depend on the cause that causes it. In this way, it is understood that there is no way to prevent cough, only in the case of cough caused by allergy can you try to avoid the appearance of cough by taking extreme hygienic care at home and avoiding as far as possible the conditions that produce the allergy.