OverviewA cough is a sudden, noisy expulsion of air from the lungs.
What is going on in the body?Coughing is usually a reflex response of the diaphragm and respiratory muscles caused by an irritation in the throat or windpipe. A reflex response means that the body does something automatically, without a person thinking about it.
The cough reflex helps to protect the lungs from bacteria, viruses, dust, and other damaging substances. However, people can cough on purpose if they want or need to. There are many possible causes of a cough, ranging from allergies to lung infections and cancer.
What other signs and symptoms are associated with this symptom?A cough generally comes to the attention of a healthcare professional only if it persists over several hours or days. In this instance, the professional needs to know:
• if anyone else who has been near the person has been coughing or sick
• if the cough is constant or only occasional
• if the cough is dry or brings up any mucus or phlegm and the color of the phlegm
• when the cough started and how long it has been going on
• whether any blood has been coughed up
• whether the cough seems to recur at a certain time of year, which often happens when a person has seasonal allergies
• whether the individual has a fever, heartburn, runny nose, or weight loss.
What are the causes and risks of the symptom?
There are a number of things that can cause a cough, including the following: ACE inhibitors, which are medications that are often used to treat high blood pressure allergies asthma chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, also called COPD, such as emphysema congestive heart failure, which can cause fluid buildup in the lungs and make a person coughexposure to certain chemicals or gases, such as car exhausta foreign body in the windpipe, which can happen when a small child puts objects in his or her mouthgastroesophageal reflux (heartburn)lung or throat infections, such as strep throat, acute bronchitis, or pneumonia miscellaneous conditions, such as a neurological disorder known as Tourette syndrome postnasal drip syndrome, which occurs when mucus from the nose and sinuses drains down the back of the throatsmoking tumors or cancer, including lung cancer
What can be done to prevent the symptom?
Preventing a cough depends on what is causing it. Quitting smoking will eventually get rid of a smoker's cough, though at first the person may cough up more phlegm than usual, as his or her airways recover.
How is the symptom diagnosed?
Sometimes, the reason for the cough is obvious to the healthcare professional from the history and physical exam. In other cases, blood tests or a chest X-ray may be needed, depending on what is suspected. Pulmonary function tests can help to diagnose asthma or emphysema
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