Coughing

Cough
A young boy coughing due to pertussis causing whooping cough. Coughing The sound of a person coughing. Problems playing this file? See media help.
Pronunciation	pronunciation  Latin: tussis
Classification and external resources
Specialty	Infectious disease
ICD-10	R05
ICD-9-CM	786.2
DiseasesDB	17149
MedlinePlus	003072
eMedicine	ENT/1048560
MeSH	D003371
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A cough is a sudden and often repetitively occurring, protective reflex, which helps to clear the large breathing passages from fluids, irritants, foreign particles and microbes. The cough reflex consists of three phases: an inhalation, a forced exhalation against a closed glottis, and a violent release of air from the lungs following opening of the glottis, usually accompanied by a distinctive sound. Coughing is either voluntary or involuntary.

Frequent coughing usually indicates the presence of a disease. Many viruses and bacteria benefit evolutionarily by causing the host to cough, which helps to spread the disease to new hosts. Most of the time, irregular coughing is caused by a respiratory tract infection but can also be triggered by choking, smoking, air pollution,asthma, gastroesophageal reflux disease, post-nasal drip, chronic bronchitis, lung tumors, heart failure and medications such as ACE inhibitors.

Treatment should target the cause; for example, smoking cessation or discontinuing ACE inhibitors. Cough suppressants such as codeine or dextromethorphan are frequently prescribed, but have been demonstrated to have little effect. Other treatment options may target airway inflammation or may promote mucus expectoration. As it is a natural protective reflex, suppressing the cough reflex might have damaging effects, especially if the cough is productive.