A cough is a sudden, often repetitive, spasmodic contraction of the thoracic cavity, resulting in violent release of air from the lungs, and usually accompanied by a distinctive sound. Cough is an action your body takes to get rid of substances that are irritating the air passages. A cough is usually initiated to clear a buildup of phlegm in the trachea; air may move through this passage at up to 480 km/h (300 mi/h) during a contraction. Coughing can also be triggered by a bolus of food going down the trachea instead of the esophagus, due to a failure of the epiglottis, although this may result in choking instead. Frequent or chronic coughing usually indicates the presence of a disease. Provided the patient is a non-smoker and has a normal chest xray, the cause of chronic cough in 93% of all patients is due to asthma, reflux (heartburn) or post-nasal drip. Other causes of chronic cough include chronic bronchitis and medications such as ACE inhibitors. Coughing can happen voluntarily as well as involuntarily.

Complications

In severe cases, prolonged coughing can cause fatigue fractures of lower ribs and costochondritis, an inflammation of the connective tissue between the breastbone and the ribs.

Treatment

Coughs can be treated with cough medicines. Dry coughs are treated with cough suppressants (antitussives) that suppress the body's urge to cough, while productive coughs (coughs that produce phlegm) are treated with expectorants that loosen mucus from the respiratory tract.

See also

• Whooping cough
• Kennel cough
• Cough medicines, including expectorants

External link

• FamilyDoctor.org – Chronic cough: causes and cures
• Asthma cough treatmentsde:Husten