New Delhi: Coughing is the body’s way of responding to an irritant in the respiratory system. When irritants like allergens, dust, pollution, or smoke enter the airways, specialized sensors send a message to the brain, and the brain is alerted to their presence. The brain then sends a message through the spinal cord to the muscles in the chest and abdomen. When these muscles rapidly contract, it pushes a burst of air out through the respiratory system. This burst of air, or cough, helps push out harmful irritants.
Coughing is an important reflex that can help remove harmful irritants that may sicken or make it harder to breathe. When someone is ill, a cough can also move mucus (phlegm) and other secretions out of your body to help you clear your airways, breathe easier, and heal faster.
In an interaction with News9Live, Dr.Dayanand Balappa Yaligar, General Physician and Internal Medicine Specialist, at Apollo Clinics, Bangalore, explained the difference between dry and wet cough and also shared some remedies to treat the same.
Knowing Dry Cough
A dry or unproductive cough doesn’t produce mucus. If you are experiencing a tickling sensation in the throat, it could be due to a dry cough. Dry coughs can come on after a cold or flu. Other conditions like GERD, heart failure, and lung diseases cause dry cough.
It will subside within a day or two if proper precautions are taken like home remedies, antacids, anti-allergic medicines, etc. If it does not subside one needs to undergo evaluation to rule out other causes. The cough is a cause of concern and must be reported to a doctor ASAP if it is accompanied by headaches, fever, shortness of breath, and drowsiness. And if the cough results in wheezing or whooping sounds, it could be indicative of a serious health problem.
Understanding Wet cough
On the other hand, a wet cough, also known as a productive cough, is caused by a buildup of mucus or excess fluid in the airways. Some common reasons for a wet cough include Viral infections, Bacterial infections like COPD, Heart failure with infection, cystic fibrosis, etc.
Treatment and tests
In both cases consuming liquids, lozenges, cough drops, vapourisers, and steamy showers will help to soothing coughing. It needs thorough evaluation to find out the exact bacteria and treat accordingly with antibiotics, expectorants, antiallergics, etc. Most coughs can be diagnosed with a simple physical exam.
If the cough is long-lasting or severe, or the patient has other symptoms like fever, weight loss, and fatigue, a doctor may want to order additional tests. These tests include – chest X-rays, lung function tests, bloodwork, sputum analysis, which is a microscopic look at mucus, pulse oximetry test, which measures the amount of oxygen in the blood, arterial blood gas test, which tests a blood sample from an artery to show the amount of oxygen and carbon dioxide in blood, along with the blood chemistry. These episodes can be prevented by taking pneumonia vaccines periodically, especially for the elderly age group citizens. With this appropriate dressing and intake of healthy meals is essential.
Coughing is an important reflex that can help remove harmful irritants that may sicken or make it harder to breathe. When someone is ill, a cough can also move mucus (phlegm) and other secretions out of your body to help you clear your airways, breathe easier, and heal faster. Health Conditions Health News: Latest News from Health Care, Mental Health, Weight Loss, Disease, Nutrition, Healthcare
