Cough Coughing is a reflex that keeps your throat and airways clear.

Although it can be annoying, coughing helps your body heal or protect itself. Coughs can be either acute or chronic. Acute coughs begin suddenly and usually last no more than 2 to 3 weeks. Acute coughs are the kind you most often get with a cold or flu. Chronic coughs last longer than 2 to 3 weeks. Causes of chronic cough include

Asthma Allergies COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) Smoking Throat disorders, such as croup in young children Some medicines

Water can help ease your cough - whether you drink it or add it to the air with a steamy shower or vaporizer. If you have a cold or the flu, antihistamines may work better than non-prescription cough medicines. Children under four should not have cough medicine. For children over four, use caution and read labels carefully.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/cough.html

What Is Cough?
A cough is a natural reflex that protects your lungs. Coughing helps clear your airways of lung irritants, such as smoke and mucus (a slimy substance). This helps prevent infection. A cough also can be a symptom of a medical problem. Prolonged coughing can cause unpleasant side effects, such as chest pain, exhaustion, lightheadedness, and loss of bladder control. Coughing also can interfere with sleep, socializing, and work.

What Causes Cough?

Coughing occurs when the nerve endings in your airways become irritated. Certain irritants and allergens, medical conditions, and medicines can irritate these nerve endings.

Irritants and Allergens

An irritant is something you're sensitive to. For example, smoking or inhaling secondhand smoke can irritate your lungs. Smoking also can lead to certain medical conditions that can cause a cough. Other irritants include air pollution, paint fumes, or scented products like perfumes or air fresheners.

An allergen is something you're allergic to, such as dust, animal dander, mold, or pollens from trees, grasses, and flowers. Coughing helps clear your airways of irritants and allergens. This helps prevent infection.

Medical Conditions
A number of medical conditions can cause acute, subacute, and chronic cough. A common cold or other upper respiratory infection most often causes an acute cough. Examples of other upper respiratory infections include the flu, pneumonia, and whooping cough. An acute cough lasts less than 3 weeks. A lingering cough that remains after a cold or other respiratory infection is gone is often called a subacute cough. A subacute cough lasts 3 to 8 weeks. Postnasal drip, asthma, and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) most often cause chronic cough. Chronic cough lasts more than 8 weeks. Postnasal drip is mucus (a slimy substance) that runs down your throat from the back of your nose. This mucus inflames and irritates the throat. A sinus infection, cold, or ongoing contact with irritants and allergens can cause postnasal drip. Asthma is a long-term lung disease that inflames and narrows the airways. GERD is a condition in which acid from your stomach backs up into your throat. Other causes of chronic cough include:

Respiratory infections. A cough from an upper respiratory infection can develop into a chronic cough. Chronic bronchitis. This condition occurs when the lining of your airways is constantly irritated and inflamed. Smoking is the main cause of chronic bronchitis. Bronchiectasis (brong-ke-EK-ta-sis). This is a condition in which your airways become damaged and can no longer properly move air in and out. The condition usually is due to an infection or other condition that injures the walls of the airways. Lung cancer. In rare cases, a chronic cough is due to lung cancer. Most people who develop lung cancer smoke or used to smoke. Heart failure. Heart failure is a condition in which the heart can't pump blood the way it should. Fluid can build up in the body and lead to a number of symptoms. If fluid builds up in the lungs, it can cause a chronic cough.

Medicines
Certain medicines can cause a chronic cough. Examples of these medicines are ACE inhibitors and beta blockers. ACE inhibitors are used to treat high blood pressure (HBP). Beta blockers are used to treat HBP, migraine, and glaucoma.

Who Is At Risk for Cough?

People at risk for cough include those who:

Are exposed to things that irritate their airways (called irritants) and things that they're allergic to (called allergens). Examples of irritants are cigarette smoke, air pollution, paint fumes, and scented products. Examples of allergens are dust, animal dander, mold, and pollens from trees, grasses, and flowers. Have certain conditions that irritate the lungs, such as asthma, sinus infections, colds, and gastroesophageal reflux disease. Smoke. Smoking can irritate your lungs and cause coughing. Smoking also can lead to certain medical conditions that can cause a cough. Take certain medicines, such as ACE inhibitors and beta blockers. ACE inhibitors are used to treat high blood pressure (HBP). Beta blockers are used to treat HBP, migraine, and glaucoma.

What Are the Signs and Symptoms of Cough?

When you cough, mucus (a slimy substance) may come up. Coughing helps clear the mucus in your airways from a cold, bronchitis, or other condition. Rarely, people cough up blood. If this happens, you should call your doctor right away. A cough may be a symptom of a medical condition. Thus, it may occur with other signs and symptoms of that condition. For example, if you have a cold, you may have a runny or stuffy nose. If you have gastroesophageal reflux disease, you may have a sour taste in your mouth. A chronic cough can make you feel tired because you use a lot of energy to cough. It also can prevent you from sleeping well and interfere with work and socializing. Chronic cough also can cause headache, chest pain, loss of bladder control, sweating, and, rarely, fractured ribs.

Treating the Cough Rather Than the Cause

Coughing is important because it helps clear your airways of irritants, such as smoke and mucus (a slimy substance). It also helps prevent infection.

Cough medicines usually are used only when the cause of the cough is unknown and the cough causes a lot of discomfort. Medicines can help control a cough and make mucus easier to cough up. Your doctor may recommend medicines such as:

Prescription cough suppressants, also called antitussives. These medicines can help relieve a cough. However, they're usually used when nothing else works. No evidence shows that over-the-counter cough suppressants relieve cough. Expectorants. These medicines may loosen mucus and make it easier to cough up. Bronchodilators. These medicines relax your airways.

Other treatments also may relieve an irritated throat and loosen mucus. Examples include using a cool-mist humidifier or steam vaporizer and drinking enough fluids. Examples of fluids are water, soup, and juice. Ask your doctor how much fluid you need.

Cough in Children
No evidence shows that cough and cold medicines relieve a cough in children. These medicines can even harm children. Talk to your child's doctor about your child's cough and how to treat it.

Lifestyle Changes
If you smoke, quit. Talk to your doctor about programs and products that can help you quit smoking. Try to avoid irritants and allergens that make you cough. Examples of irritants include cigarette smoke, air pollution, paint fumes, and scented products like perfumes or air fresheners. Examples of allergens include dust, animal dander, mold, and pollens from trees, grasses, and flowers. Follow a healthy diet and be as physically active as you can. A healthy diet includes a variety of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. It also includes lean meats, poultry, fish, and fat-free or lowfat milk or milk products. A healthy diet also is low in saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium (salt), and added sugar.

Key Points

A cough is a natural reflex that protects your lungs. Coughing helps clear your airways of lung irritants, such as smoke and mucus (a slimy substance). This helps prevent infection. A cough also can be a symptom of a medical problem.

Prolonged coughing can cause unpleasant side effects, such as chest pain, exhaustion, light-headedness, and loss of bladder control. Coughing also can interfere with sleep, socializing, and work. Coughing occurs when the nerve endings in your airways become irritated. Certain irritants and allergens, medical conditions, and medicines can irritate these nerve endings. A cough can be acute, subacute, or chronic, depending on how long it lasts. An acute cough lasts less than 3 weeks. A subacute cough lasts 3 to 8 weeks. A chronic cough lasts more than 8 weeks. When you cough, mucus (a slimy substance) may come up. Coughing helps clear the mucus in your airways from a cold, bronchitis, or other condition. Rarely, people cough up blood. If this happens, you should call your doctor right away. If your cough is a symptom of a medical condition, it may occur with other signs and symptoms of that condition. For example, if you have a cold, you may have a runny or stuffy nose. If you have gastroesophageal reflux disease, you may have a sour taste in your mouth. Your doctor will diagnose the cause of your cough using your medical history, a physical exam, and the results from tests. The best way to treat a cough is to treat its cause. However, sometimes the cause is unknown. Cough medicines usually are used only when the cause of the cough is unknown and the cough causes a lot of discomfort. No evidence shows that cough and cold medicines relieve a cough in children. These medicines can even harm children. Talk to your child's doctor about your child's cough and how to treat it. Follow the treatment plan your doctor gives you for treating the cause of your cough. Ask your doctor about ways to relieve your cough. Try to follow a healthy lifestyle. For example, if you smoke, quit. Try to avoid irritants and allergens that make you cough. Follow a healthy diet and be as physically active as you can.

"Barky" Cough

Barky coughs are usually caused by a swelling in the upper part of the airway. Most of the time, a barky cough comes from croup, a swelling of the larynx (voice box) and trachea (windpipe). Croup usually is the result of a virus, but it can also come from allergies or a change in temperature at night. Younger children have smaller airways that, if swollen, can make it hard to breathe. Kids younger than 3 years old are at the most risk for croup because their windpipes are so narrow. A cough from croup can start suddenly and in the middle of the night. Often a kid with croup will also have stridor, a noisy, harsh breathing (some doctors describe it as a coarse, musical sound) that occurs when a child breathes in.
Whooping Cough

Whooping cough is another name for the pertussis, an infection of the airways caused by the bacteria bordetella pertussis. Kids with pertussis will have spells of back to back coughs without

breathing in between. At the end of the coughing, the kids will take a deep breath in that makes a "whooping" sound. Other symptoms of pertussis are a runny nose, sneezing, mild cough, and a low fever. Although pertussis can happen at any age, it's most severe in infants under 1 year old who did not get the pertussis vaccine. Your child should get the pertussis shot at 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 15 months, and 4-6 years of age. This shot is given as part of the DTaP vaccine (diphtheria, tetanus, acellular pertussis). Pertussis is very contagious. The bacteria can spread from person to person through tiny drops of fluid in the air coming from the nose or mouth when people sneeze, cough, or laugh. Others can become infected by inhaling the drops or getting the drops on their hands and then touching their mouths or noses.
Cough With Wheezing

If your child makes a wheezing (whistling) sound when breathing out, this could mean that the lower airways are swollen. This can happen with asthma or with a viral infection (bronchiolitis). Also, wheezing sometimes can happen if the lower airway is blocked by a foreign object.
Nighttime Cough

Lots of coughs get worse at night. When your child has a cold, the mucus from the nose and sinuses can drain down the throat and trigger a cough during sleep. This is only a problem if the cough won't let your child sleep. Asthma also can trigger nighttime coughs because the airways tend to be more sensitive and irritable at night.
Daytime Cough

Cold air or activity can make coughs worse during the daytime. Try to make sure that nothing in your house like air freshener, pets, or smoke (especially tobacco smoke) is making your child cough.
Cough With a Fever

A child who has a cough, mild fever, and runny nose probably has a common cold. But coughs with a fever of 102 Fahrenheit (39 Celsius) or higher can sometimes mean pneumonia, especially if a child is weak and breathing fast. In this case, call your doctor immediately.
Cough With Vomiting

Kids often cough so much that it triggers their gag reflex, making them throw up. Also, a child who has a cough with a cold or an asthma flare-up may throw up if lots of mucus drains into the stomach and causes nausea. Usually, this is not cause for alarm unless the vomiting doesn't stop.

Persistent Cough

Coughs caused by colds can last weeks, especially if your child has one cold right after another. Asthma, allergies, or a chronic infection in the sinuses or airways might also cause persistent coughs. If the cough lasts for 3 weeks, call your doctor.
What Your Doctor Will Do

One of the best ways to diagnose a cough is by listening. Knowing what the cough sounds like will help your doctor decide how to treat your child. Because most coughs are caused by viruses, doctors usually do not give antibiotics for a cough. If the cough is caused by a virus, it just needs to run its course. A viral infection can last for as long as 2 weeks. Unless a cough won't let your child sleep, cough medicines are not needed. Cough medicines sometimes help a child stop coughing, but they do not treat the cause of the cough. If you do choose to use an over-the-counter (OTC) cough medicine, call the doctor to be sure of the correct dose. Do not use OTC combination medicines like "Tylenol Cold" they have more than one medicine in them, and kids can have more side effects and are more likely to get an overdose of the medicine. Cough medicines are not recommended for children under age 4.
Home Treatment

Here are some ways to help your child feel better:

If your child has asthma, make sure you have an asthma care plan from your doctor. The plan should help you choose the right asthma medicines to give. For a "barky" or "croupy" cough, turn on the hot water in the shower in your bathroom and close the door so the room will steam up. Then, sit in the bathroom with your child for about 20 minutes. The steam should help your child breathe more easily. Try reading a book together to pass the time. A cool-mist humidifier in your child's bedroom might help with sleep. Cool beverages like juice can be soothing. But do not give soda or orange juice, as these can hurt a throat that is sore from coughing. You should not give your child (especially a baby or toddler) OTC cough medicine without first checking with your doctor. Cough drops are OK for older kids, but kids younger than 3 years old can choke on them. It's better to avoid cough drops unless your doctor says that they're safe for your child.

http://kidshealth.org/parent/general/eyes/childs_cough.html# ** To stop night time coughing in a child (or an adult, as we found out personally), put Vicks Vapor Rub generously on the bottom of the feet at bedtime and then cover with socks. Even persistent, heavy, deep coughing will stop in about five minutes and stay stopped for many, many hours of relief. This works 100 percent of the time, and is more effective in children than even very strong prescription cough medicines. In addition it is extremely soothing and comforting and they will sleep soundly. I heard the head of the Canada Research Council describe these findings on the part of their scientists when they were investigating the effectiveness and usage of prescription cough medicines in children, as compared to alternative therapies like acupressure. Cough Home Remedies: Honey and lemon: Mix 1 part lemon juice to 1 part honey. Mix well, may mix together better if you heat it for a few seconds in the microwave. Vitamin C: Ester C is best but it is also the most expensive. Ester C is good because it absorbs into the body better and is not wasted in the through any of the bodily functions. Another remedy is to take half a cup of hot water, add three teaspoons of fresh lime juice to it, one teaspoon of honey and one teaspoon of ginger juice. Mix well and sip this concoction, three times daily, to find relief from cough.