Cough - Causes, symptoms and treatment. MF.

Symptoms similar to cough:

• Strong cough
• Chronic cough
• Dry cough
• Allergic cough

Cough - a quick exhalation of the air from the lungs, usually to clear the airways of the lungs from liquid, mucus or foreign matter. Cough is essentially a protective mechanism aimed at cleaning the airway from the secretion, and various inhaled or aspirated particles.
According to studies conducted in Europe and the US, cough is the fifth most frequent cause among the reasons that led to a doctor. In 2008, the US sales of over-the-counter antitussives amounted to about $ 1 billion, which indicates the great importance of this problem for patients.

Depending on the duration of the symptoms, cough is acute( less than 21 days), subacute( up to 4 to 8 weeks) and chronic( lasts more than 8 weeks).If cough is accompanied by sputum, it is called productive. If the sputum is not observed, then the cough is considered dry.

Disease that can cause coughing

• Asthma, allergy
• Chronic obstructive

lung disease • Chronic rhinitis and sinusitis
• runny
• Congestive heart failure
• Gastroesophageal reflux disease( GERD, heartburn)
• Lung cancer
• Sarcoidosis
• Sinus Infection
• Tobacco smoking
• Tuberculosis

Possible Causes of Cough

1) Various viral and bacterial infections of the lungs or respiratory tract. Diseases: bronchitis, pneumonia, bronchiectasis, whooping cough, viral infections, fungal infection of the upper respiratory tract( pharyngomycosis), etc.
2) Smoking.
3) Tumor diseases.
4) Aspiration of foreign body.
5) Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
6) Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and primarily gastroesophageal reflux.
7) Tuberculosis.
8) Mental disorders.
9) Diseases of the cardiovascular system, which caused stagnation of blood in the small circle of the circulation( in the lungs), for example, ischemic lung disease 4 of the functional class.
10) The occurrence of cough as a side effect of taking certain medications, for example, drugs used to reduce pressure( enap, enam, etc.).Chemical irritation( tear gas, gases, smoke).

Allergic cough

When it can be said that cough is associated with an allergic process?

Cough paroxysmal, begins suddenly, can last a long time. Cough is chronic. If the patient begins to cough, then he can not stop for a long time. Attacks are more frequent at night. Cough mainly dry. Sometimes, at the end of a coughing fit, a small clot of light or transparent sputum may leave. Sometimes patients notice that cough is provoked by some external factors: contact with dust, animals, old books, sharp smells, etc. Coughing attacks can be accompanied by a feeling of shortness of breath, suffocation.

The very concept of an allergic cough is incorrect. There is no such term in the modern classification of diseases. If a cough is associated with an allergic process, then talk about a cough variant of bronchial asthma.

Drugs for cough

Drugs are selected individually depending on the cause of the cough.

Most often, you have to cure a cough associated with acute respiratory viral infections( ARVI) - what is usually called a cold. Antitussives are divided into groups: thinning phlegm and those that help it to cough.

Expectorants prescribe cough with sputum. Of expectorants most often used medicinal plants: marshmallow, mother-and-stepmother, licorice, thermopsis. They reduce the viscosity of phlegm, while increasing its volume. Therefore, when appointing expectorants, the patient should drink more than usual( water, tea, etc.).Althey is a part of mucaltin. It is prescribed on a tablet 4 times a day( pre-dissolve in a third of a glass of water).The thoracic elixir is often used. It includes an extract of licorice root, anise oil, etc. At one time appoint drops on the number of years of the child. For greater effect, infusions of herbs are taken every 3-4 hours. Parents of allergic children need to carefully select medicines that contain medicinal herbs.

Mucolytics. Means included in this group( acetylcysteine, lazolvan, ambroxol, bromhexine), dilute sputum, changing the structure of the mucus itself. This is an important property, since in children under 5 years of age sputum is viscous enough and it is difficult to cough it out.

Dry cough. This is usually the beginning of acute respiratory disease. In this case, the tactics of treatment change. It is necessary to reduce reflex stimulation of a cough that comes from the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract affected by the virus. With this help to manage home inhalation, moisturizing the bronchial mucosa. Breathe as an ordinary water vapor, and add to the water for inhalation of soda, an infusion of eucalyptus, sage or mint. Extracts of these herbs are often included in syrups, teas and tablets for resorption in the mouth.

Antitussive treatment excludes the use of drugs with a multidirectional effect, for example, expectorant medicine and a drug that reduces the cough reflex( sinecode, broncholitin).Do not assume that "they are all from a cough." On the one hand, the sputum is getting worse, on the other hand, the ability to squeeze it out is reduced

To which doctor should I go for a cough?

The reasons provoking such a symptom as a cough are many. In addition, there are frequent situations when a cough is provoked by a combination of several factors, for example, a cough variant of bronchial asthma + gastroesophageal reflux and pharyngomycosis. . Only a doctor can understand this situation.the appearance of such a symptom as a cough requires consultation of the therapist( if the patient is a pediatric child) or a pulmonologist.