It is already late autumn and early winter.
The temperature has dropped, the cool wind has blown up, and the smog in many areas has also risen. Many friends’ cough problems have become more frequent.
In order for all friends to have a cough-free autumn and winter, Dr. Clove will share some little knowledge about cough.
If you cough incessantly, you will cough up pneumonia? ]
Many people think so, but this is not the case.
It is not cough that causes pneumonia, but pneumonia that causes cough.
Cough is a normal physiological reflex. When the respiratory tract is stimulated (such as increased secretions or choking water), cough will help remove foreign bodies from the respiratory tract, so cough has a protective effect.
Cough can be roughly divided into acute (within 3 weeks), subacute (3 ~ 8 weeks) and chronic (more than 8 weeks).
In daily life, the most common is acute cough.
The most common causes of acute cough are the common cold and acute tracheobronchitis. Of course, At present, serious air pollution is increasingly becoming the cause of acute cough-suspended particles in the air will stimulate the mucosa of nose, pharynx and airway, and viruses and bacteria carried in the particles will also take advantage of the damage to the mucosal barrier.
Sometimes, acute cough may also be signs of serious diseases, such as foreign body inhalation, acute myocardial infarction, left heart failure, pneumonia, pneumothorax, etc. Of course, if these diseases are true, in addition to cough, there will certainly be other discomfort, in this case, don’t wait, see a doctor in time.
However, the use of chronic bronchitis, bronchiectasis, cough variant asthma, gastroesophageal reflux (often manifested by heartburn and acid regurgitation) and ACEI antihypertensive drugs may cause subacute cough and chronic cough.
[Cough incessantly, take some anti-inflammatory drugs and cough medicine.]
This is not the right thing to do.
As mentioned in the previous section, cough is not taken for granted [throat inflammation], but there are many causes. Take cough caused by the most common common cold as an example. Colds are mostly caused by viral infection, and antibiotics that kill bacteria (many people call them anti-inflammatory drugs directly) are not targeted at the cause of the disease.
For cough caused by acute bronchitis, antibiotics are only required unless bacterial infection is suspected, such as cough accompanied by cough with purulent sputum.
As for cough caused by asthma and gastroesophageal reflux, it is even less reasonable to use antibiotics.
In addition, it is inappropriate to use cough medicine when coughing.
Generally speaking, cough medicine is not required for cough that does not affect daily life and sleep.
When cough is accompanied by a large amount of expectoration, forced antitussive may lead to unfavorable discharge of airway secretions, which is not conducive to disease recovery.
In addition, for asthma with cough as its main manifestation, antitussive does not help what to relieve the disease.
At this time, remember to consult a doctor first when using those drugs and how to use them.
[It’s comfortable to be atomized.]
Atomization therapy is indeed an important treatment for respiratory diseases.
Atomization is to put the drug into a special device, turn it into aerosol particles, and then inhale it, so that the drug can directly act on bronchus and alveoli at all levels, treat diseases, and moisten respiratory tract.
Drugs often used for atomization therapy include bronchial relaxants, inhaled hormones and normal saline.
The first two have therapeutic effects on cough caused by asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
And atomized normal saline can often effectively relieve cough caused by common cold.
Atomization of hypertonic saline (sodium chloride concentration is usually 3%) is conducive to inducing sputum excretion, but because there is the possibility of inducing asthma attacks, atomization also needs to be carried out under the guidance of doctors.
[Have some honey to relieve cough.]
Incomplete studies have shown that honey water can have certain effects on relieving cough. If you think it is useful, you can drink some warm honey water. Emphasize: Babies under 1 year old should not use honey water to relieve cough and avoid the risk of poisoning.
Apart from honey water, there are various dietotherapy prescriptions for cough, such as stewed pears with crystal sugar, ginger soup, Siraitia grosvenorii soaking in water, etc., but there is still not enough relevant research to confirm the effect of these methods. Therefore, you can try them, but don’t have too much hope for the antitussive effect.
In fact, for cough caused by common cold, healthy adults will heal themselves in about a week even if they do not take drugs.
However, once this happens:
- Cough lasts for a long time, even more than 3 weeks when coughing with other symptoms, such as hemoptysis, yellow purulent sputum, chest pain, wheezing, etc. or older, is very worried about their cough symptoms
It is suggested that medical treatment should be carried out in time, the reasons should be clarified, and proper treatment should be carried out. Instead of just trying various dietotherapy remedies.
[Wear a mask when you go out.]
In fact, cough caused by many reasons does not have a good targeted prevention method.
However, most coughs are still caused by common cold and environmental pollution stimulation.
Therefore, minimizing access to crowded places, Keep your hands clean and use paper towels or elbows when sneezing or coughing. Reduce outdoor activities in smoggy weather, wear masks to protect you when you go out, and wash your skin, nose and mouth when you go home. Open windows and ventilate reasonably or use air purifiers. Oh, by the way, drink plenty of water to moisten your throat, and don’t let the surrounding environment be too dry, especially after heating comes from the north.
All of the above can prevent cough somewhat.
Yes, there is not much that can be done, but it is quite simple and important.
I hope that readers and friends will have less coughing, smooth and relaxed breathing, healthy and happy winter.