Cough is the most common reflex that almost everyone experiences in daily life and plays a protective role in the respiratory system. It helps to get rid of the excessive amount of secretion in order to clear the respiratory tract and throat.
What is a cough?
Cough is the most common reflex that is experienced by almost everyone in daily life and plays a protective role in the respiratory system. It helps to get rid of excessive secretion to clear the respiratory tract and throat. The cough reflex matures in children around the age of 5 years. While adults can easily remove airway secretions, children under 5 years of age cannot.
How Cough Occurs and What Are Its Types?
Cough can have many causes. Cough seen in children is different from adults in terms of its causes, cough duration and character. Cough is divided into two categories.
Normal or expected cough: An average of 10 coughs per day were reported in normal, healthy children. In addition, 50% of children under the age of 1, whose parents smoke, and 22% of preschool children have cough without a cold.
Abnormal cough: Abnormal cough in children, according to duration (acute / subacute / chronic), cough is classified according to its character and quality (dry / wet), time (night / day), age group (infancy / childhood / adolescent) and cause (specific / nonspecific). In addition, according to sputum extraction, it is divided into two as sputum and without sputum. ) is defined as. Dry coughs without sputum are generally caused by infections in the upper respiratory tract. Common cold and common cold cause a dry cough. Cough with phlegm is usually caused by lower respiratory tract infection. The most common diseases are pneumonia, bronchitis, bronchiectasis and lung abscess. Witnessing cough with phlegm The duration of the cough is taken into account in the engraving.
Acute-Chronic cough: According to the duration of the cough, acute or chronic coughs are mentioned. Coughs lasting up to 4 weeks are acute coughs. It is frequently seen in upper respiratory tract infections, especially the common cold. If the cough lasts longer than 4 weeks, these coughs are called chronic coughs. In these cases, first of all, the person's smoking or exposure to cigarette smoke, occupation and hobby status are questioned.
What are the Causes and Symptoms of Acute Cough?
Upper respiratory tract infections, especially the common cold, are the most common cause of acute cough. Environmental factors such as air pollution, humidity, gases that irritate the respiratory tract, exposure to cigarette smoke can also cause acute cough in children. The main symptoms are cough, runny nose, post-nasal drip and nasal congestion. Typically most resolve spontaneously. Cough associated with upper respiratory tract infection resolves within 10 days in 50% of children, and within 25 days in some. The frequency of upper respiratory tract infection is 5-7 times a year in children under 4 years of age, between 10-14 years of age, 2-5 times a year
What are the Causes and Symptoms of Subacute Cough?
Subacute cough is a cough that often develops after infection. In the 2-3 week period after a viral infection, cough reflex sensitivity increases. It can easily occur with harmless stimuli such as cough, odor, aerosol, temperature changes. Asthma, sinusitis, and ongoing allergen exposure are other common causes. In these children, it is important to remember that cough is a symptom, not a disease. However, it is important that cough that starts in the newborn period, cough associated with nutrition, sudden onset cough, cough with sputum, sweating and weight loss, and cough exceeding 4 weeks. In this case, a specialist physician should be consulted.
How to Understand Which Disease is Related to Cough?
Cough is also a sign of another disease. It may be a sign or a symptom. For this reason, cough symptoms should be analyzed very well before cough treatment is started.
Dry cough and COVID-19 COVID-19, which was seen in the city of Wuhan in China on December 31, 2019 and announced as a global epidemic on March 11, 2020, or with its more widespread use, dry cough in the new coronavirus infection was among the first identified symptoms. He described a dry cough, often with symptoms of colds and flu, in people infected with COVID-19. In the clinical course, it was observed that these patients later developed respiratory distress with high fever and needed medical support.
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Bronchitis and bronchial cancer Cough caused by bronchitis occurs due to infection in the lower respiratory tract and lung and is usually phlegmatic. The cough becomes intense and severe. For this type of cough, which is mostly caused by a cold, the inflammation needs to be treated, but even if the inflammation is treated, the dry cough may continue for a while.
The sputum in bronchitis is usually transparent or yellow in color. However, in some cases, yellow, yellowish, gray or green sputum may indicate pneumonia or lung abscess. Those who have complaints in this direction can answer the question of what is good for cough, doctors of the Department of Chest Diseases. If a smoker often has a cough without phlegm in the early morning hours, this should be taken seriously. In such cases, the risk of bronchitis and bronchial cancer should be considered. If there is no serious discomfort, this type of cough can be improved by quitting smoking.
Stomach diseases If a cough occurs after meals with a burning sensation under the breastbone, rising from the stomach to the throat, it may be caused by gastroesophageal reflux (GER). In people with stomach problems, cough also increases in the supine position.
Asthma Asthma, cough usually manifests itself as a chronic and persistent cough at night and in the morning, and it is often difficult to produce sputum despite age. Those with asthma suffer from coughing, shortness of breath and chest congestion.
Heart Diseases If the cough usually appears when lying down and is relieved when standing and sitting, it may indicate hidden heart failure. It starts especially while sleeping and is accompanied by coughing and shortness of breath. In some cases, light bloody sputum may also be seen with this cough. Drug treatment in heart failure is usually the answer to the question of what is good for cough.
Allergy
Allergic conditions can cause sneezing, discharge, eye watering and itching as well as irritating cough. Allergic cough is usually caused by phlegm flowing to the back of the throat. Allergy tests should be done to know the allergen causing the allergy. After the cause of the allergy is found, the treatment is planned according to the allergen characteristics. If pollen allergy is a seasonally recurrent allergy, care should be taken not to go outside during periods of high pollen in order to avoid it. It is recommended to stay away from cigarettes, strong odors and fumes. Reducing allergens in the home, vacuuming your carpets frequently, and being careful to avoid dust in the home help with allergy control.
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)COPD is a chronic disease caused by narrowing of the airways in the lungs. Since most smokers attribute their cough and sputum complaints to smoking, the diagnosis of COPD, which can be fatal in advanced levels, may be delayed. COPD disease also causes the development of many diseases such as sleep apnea, diabetes and coronary heart diseases. In the diagnosis of this disease, which can be eliminated with early diagnosis, it is beneficial for people over the age of 40 to have a breath test every year.
Smoking, which is one of the biggest causes of COPD, must be stopped. Likewise, air pollution and exhaust fumes are also very effective. It is very inconvenient to stop coughing without treatment in COPD disease.
When is Cough in Children and Babies Dangerous?
While cough in children and infants can usually be caused by a simple problem, it can also indicate serious diseases. For this reason, cough in children should never be neglected. Situations where a physician should be consulted:
- If the cough lasts longer than 2 or 3 weeks and is increasing day by day,
- If the cough comes with fever and If there is vomiting after coughing,
- If it affects daily activities and night sleep,
- If there is bruising with coughing,
- Blood in cough with sputum
How to Cough With Natural Ways?
A few herbal teas that can be good for cough can be listed as follows:
- Ginger Tea: For those who seek the answer to the question of what is good for cough in cold and flu, in natural ways The most effective solution is ginger tea. In addition, ginger, which has anti-inflammatory properties, can be consumed as a cure by mixing it with honey and cloves due to its pain-relieving properties. Care should be taken to drink 2 cups of linden tea without sugar per day. Sugar can react with the components in tea and reduce its beneficial effects.
- Sage: Sage both softens the throat and reduces pain. Sage, which is consumed as herbal tea, can also be used as a mouthwash.
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