Cough
Introduction
Cough is a natural reflex action that helps to clean the throat, airways and lungs of mucus, exotic particles, or irritable. It is a protective mechanism of the respiratory system, when the nerve endings in the airway are stimulated, trigger. While a topical cough is normal, persistent or severe cough may indicate a underlying medical condition such as infection, allergies, asthma or chronic lung disease. Cough can be acute (for less than three weeks) or chronic (permanent than eight weeks in adults).
Types of Cough
Dry cough
A cough without mucus or phlegm is often caused by throat irritation, viral infections, allergies, or dust and smoke breathing.
Wet cough
Produces mucus or phlegm, usually associated with respiratory infections such as bronchitis or pneumonia, which helps clean the airways.
Rapid cough
It lasts for less than three weeks and is usually caused by short -term diseases such as normal cold or influenza.
chronic cough
Persists for more than eight weeks, often due to asthma, GERD, smoking, or chronic bronchitis, medical evaluation is required.
Causes of Cough
- Respiratory infections such as cold, flu, bronchitis, or pneumonia disturb the airways and trigger cough.
- Asthma causes the narrowness and inflammation of the airways, causing persistent cough.
- Allergies from pollen, dust, mold, or pet can disturb the airways and cause cough.
- Postansal drip occurs when mucus drips from the nose to the throat, causing irritation.
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) such as chronic bronchitis and emphysema leads to prolonged producers.
- Smoking causes irritation and damages the airways, resulting in smoking cough.
- Gastroosophageal reflux disease (GERD) causes acid reflux that irritates the throat and triggers cough.
- Environmental irritability such as pollution, smoke or strong odor can provoke cough.
- Vohoping phlegm (pertusis) is a bacterial infection, causing severe cough to fits with the "Hoop" sound.
- Lung cancer can introduce with a persistent cough that does not improve.
- Heart failure can cause fluid buildup in the lungs, causing wet cough.
- Some drugs, especially ace inhibitors, can cause a dry, persistent cough.
Clinical features of Cough:
Cough nature
Cough can be dry (without mucus) or producer (with mucus) depending on the underlying cause.
Duration
It can be acute (for less than 3 weeks) or chronic (for more than 8 weeks).
Affiliated sounds
Some cough have specific sounds, such as a barking cough or a whopping sound in the pertusis.
Sputum characteristics
The amount of color, stability and spit can help identify infection or other respiratory conditions.
Allied symptoms
Fever, chest pain, shortness of breath, or wheezing can occur, indicate specific diseases.
Symptoms associated with cough
- Fever due to infection like cold, flu or pneumonia.
- Breathing discomfort from airways narrow or lung issues.
- It is usually seen in asthma or allergies
- Chest pain due to frequent cough or lung inflammation.
- Fatigue and weakness from prolonged cough episodes.
- Sore throat due to persistent irritation and stress.
- Voice of vocal cord strain or infection.
- Loss of appetite during prolonged illness with frequent cough.
Investigations in Cough
- A basic imaging test that helps detect pneumonia, tuberculosis, lung tumors, fluid buildups, or other structural abnormalities in the lungs and chest cavity.
Laboratory analysis of phlegm-up mucus to aid bacterial, viral, or fungal infection, tuberculosis basili, or cancer cells, diagnosis and treatment plan.
To diagnose conditions such as asthma, COPD and restrictive lung diseases, measure the amount of lungs, capacity and airflow, and monitor the progression or treatment effectiveness of the disease.
Find out signs of infection, inflammation, allergic reactions, or systemic diseases that can contribute to chronic or acute cough, further clinical evaluation.
Identify specific allergies such as pollen, dust, mold, or animal dander that can trigger cough through skin prick tests or blood tests.
The useful in complex cases provides detailed cross-individual imaging to identify small nodules, mass, infections, or airways that do not appear on standard X-rays.
A process that uses a flexible camera tube was inserted into the airways directly to imagine the structures, removing obstructions, or gathering tissue/mucus samples for testing.