Coughing an important natural defense mechanism that protects our lungs from infections and eliminates harmful substances and mucus. It is one of the most commonly encountered diseases especially in winter. Cough usually occurs after a cold affects people's lives seriously. People who are confronted with this disorder are looking for answers to questions such as "how to eliminate cough through natural methods" and "what is good for cough?" So, what is good for dry cough, what are the causes and how is it treated?
Cough is a sudden, explosive exhalation maneuver to remove foreign matter from the airways. During coughing, short-term airflow occurs, which can reach a speed of about 800 km / h (airplane speed). Coughing does not occur only when the airways or respiratory system are affected. Apart from the respiratory tract, since the diaphragm, pleura, external auditory canal, heart membrane, esophagus and stomach also have receptors to stimulate the cough reflex, cough may occur in diseases that affect these structures. So, how does cough go away? What is good for dry cough and how is it treated?
Bezmialem Vakıf University Dragos Hospital Assoc. Dr. Sedat Ziyade, provided important facts on the matter.
REASONS FOR DRY COUGH
• Smoking,
• Conditions involving the ENT branch, such as sinusitis, allergic rhinitis, or otitis media
• Gastroesophageal reflux
• Asthma-reactive airway disease
• Bronchitis
• Pneumonia
• ACE inhibitors (a type of drug used to treat high blood pressure and congestive heart failure)
• Congestive Heart Failure
• COPD
• Aspiration
• Sarcoidosis
• Lung cancer
• Mediastinal tumors that compress the airways
• Tracheobronchial Tumors
WHICH DISEASES CAN A DRY COUGH INDICATE?
The causes of cough can be examined in a wide range. A detailed history should first be taken in order to evaluate the cough-causing disease. The age of the patient, the duration of the cough, whether it changes its shape, the presence of another concomitant complaint, drug use, if there is weight loss or not are important in terms of referring the physician to the disease that may cause cough. After a careful and detailed physical examination, the number of conditions that can cause cough can be minimized and target-oriented examinations can be made more accurately at this stage. For example, in a patient who comes with cough, questioning blood pressure disease and the use of ACE inhibitor and cough related to the use of blood pressure medication may be considered, and follow-up of the patient with coughing may be sufficient. Follow-up or endoscopy for the digestive system may be preferred.
Smoking, weight loss, coughing blood, family history of cancer or shortness of breath also manifests as lung cancer or tuberculosis and necessitates advanced and invasive tests such as tomography and bronchoscopy.
HOW LONG BEFORE SEEING A PHYSICIAN?
According to the duration of cough persistence, acute, subacute and chronic cough are examined under three main headings. Cough lasting up to three weeks is called acute, cough lasting between 3-8 weeks is subacute and cough lasting longer than 8 weeks is called chronic cough. Acute cough is most commonly seen in adults due to sinusitis, allergic rhinitis, COPD attacks, asthma and pneumonia. Subacute cough is most commonly seen after infections such as bronchitis, sinusitis, or after attacks of diseases such as asthma or COPD. Chronic cough is often associated with postnasal discharge syndrome (as a result of secretion from the nose and sinuses into the throat), asthma and gastroesophageal reflux (GER). More rarely, chronic cough is caused by cancers, tuberculosis, sarcoidosis, pneumonia and rheumatic-immunological lung diseases.
The point here is that it is not possible to determine the duration of the cough and the diseases that may cause cough. What causes the cough in a patient with chronic cough may also be inadequate or inappropriate treatment of a disease such as sinusitis or allergic rhinitis, which is actually thought to be an acute cough. Likewise, a case of lung cancer that is thought to cause chronic cough can also come with a coughing complaint. What is important here is to examine the story and physical examination steps from a broad perspective.
Cough is not seen in the course of normal life. In the case of a cough with new symptoms that become more frequent in the first few days, the patient should consult a doctor.
HOW IS DRY COUGH TREATED?
Cough is a symptom of a disease, not a disease itself. For this reason, it is not essentially the treatment of the cough itself, but the identification and treatment of the cough-causing disease. Treatment varies depending on the cough-causing disease. In infectious diseases such as sinusitis, middle ear inflammation, bronchitis, tuberculosis, antibiotic treatments are administered at appropriate doses and duration considering the characteristics such as severity, prevalence, acute or chronic condition. Drugs taken through the air passage are used in asthma and COPD. In the presence of gastroesophageal reflux drugs are used to reduce gastric acidity and regulate the functioning of the digestive system. If there is a cough due to fluid collected in the heart or lung membranes, these fluids should be drained by needle, catheter or surgery and treatment of the disease causing fluid collection should be performed. After diagnosis of mediastinal tumors compressing the airways (in the space between the two lungs), one or more of the following methods; surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy can be applied. In lung cancers, treatment options are shaped according to the type and stage of the cancer. In cases of small cell lung cancer, chemotherapy and radiotherapy options are evaluated before surgery is brought to the agenda except for stage one.
In the case of lung cancer in the group other than small cell, the option of surgery should be considered as the first choice to the extent permitted by its stage. According to the postoperative pathological examination results, chemotherapy, radiotherapy or new treatment methods may be used.
In addition, people over the age of 50 who smoke a lot should have a lung tomography and should be checked once a year by a doctor.
