COUGH IT UP!

Coughing is one your body's normal reflex action and it aims to clear your throat of mucus or foreign irritants. From time to time, we cough to ensure our throats are cleared from time to time.

Coughing is a symptom but it is not a disease however it may be indicative of other conditions

An acute cough is one that lasts for less than two weeks, a subacute cough lasts for between 3-8 weeks while coughs lasting longer than 8weeks are referred to as chronic cough.

Nature of cough

Productive and Non productive coughs

Productive coughs leads to expulsion of mucus (phlegm) due to the fact that the body is producing more mucus than usual.

Coughing is often worse at night because mucus collects at the back of your throat when you lie down, further triggering your cough reflex.

A nonproductive cough is dry and does not produce mucus. A dry, hacking cough may develop toward the end of a cold or after exposure to an irritant.

CAUSES

*The most common cause of a cough are usually respiratory tract infections, such as common cold or flu(influenza).

* Asthma

Existing case of asthma can bring about a wheezing kind of cough.

*SMOKING

For people who smoke,they usually experience Chronic cough also known as the Smoker's cough.

*For people taking drugs like ACE inhibitors which are used in controlling blood pressure, there is a persistent dry cough that is experienced in not less than 20% of the population using this medications although the cough dies down when the drugs are withdrawn.

*Bacteria infection could also cause some coughs.

Hey the causes are not always this serious you know sometimes you could cough from just having food go down the wrong tract.

Cough sometimes comes together with symptoms such as:

fever

chest pains

headaches

drowsiness

PHARMACISTS CORNER:

Productive coughs are usually treated with an

Expectorant.

What are Expectorants?

Expectorants are ingredients that increase airway secretions. They do this by increasing the fluidity of the secretions, making them easier to cough up and out.

(expectorant like bromhexine or guaifenesin) and generally the productive coughs should not be suppressed with an antitussive like dextrometorphan.

Dry cough not caused by bacteria infections should not be treated with antibiotics to prevent antibiotic resistance But should be allowed to run it's course which is usually 7-10 days. However the hacking discomfort can be managed by lozenges or soothing agents like menthol,honey,buttercup,levomenthol. Antitussives are medicines that suppress coughing, also known as cough suppressants.

They can be used in cases of Dry cough.

Antihistamine containing preparations can also be given in order to aid better sleep for coughs that are worse at night and coughs accompanied by cattarh and nasal congestion which can also be taken care of with Pseudoephedrine.

Now you know what drug combinations are better for the different kinds of coughs😊.

Remember to always takecare of the symptomatic discomforts accompanying the cough.

Here are some brands youll definitely see

Kindly share to others.

By:Osunde Nosayamen Peter and Obasogie Osarenmwindawen Harry.