Acute And Chronic Cough
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Acute cough is defined as one lasting less than 3weeks.
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Chronic cough is defined as one lasting more than 8weeks.
Classification of cough based on symptom duration is somewhat arbitrary. A cough lasting less than 3weeks is termed acute and one lasting longer than 8weeks is defined as chronic. Acute cough is usually a result of a viral upper respiratory tract infection as almost all such coughs resolve within this time period. A postinfective cough may, however, persist for a considerable period of time. An upper respiratory tract infection cough lingering for more than 3weeks is usually termed postviral cough. The grey area between 3 and 8weeks of cough is difficult to define aetiologically since all chronic cough will have started as an acute cough, but the clear diagnostic groups of chronic cough are diluted by those patients with postviral cough.
Why Have Your Asthma Symptoms Got Worse
Before your appointment, have a think about your symptoms and why you think theyve got worse. Itll help you and your GP to work out whats going on with your asthma.
Ask yourself these questions to help you:
Have I been taking my preventer inhaler every day?
Preventer medicines stop inflammation building up in your airways. But they can only do this if you take them every day.
If you stop taking them you wont have full protection. And your symptoms will come back.
Have you been taking yours every day? Or have you found it hard to get into a good routine?
Do I know the best way to take my inhalers?
Even if youve been taking an inhaler for years, its easy to slip into bad habits. If you havent been taking your inhaler correctly you will have been missing out on the full dose of asthma medicine.
Are you confident youre taking your inhalers in the right way? Watch our inhaler videos to see if youre doing it right. And ask your GP or asthma nurse to check it at your appointment.
Have I been around more of my usual asthma triggers?
Maybe youve caught a cold, or its pollen season and your hay fevers bad. Think about your usual triggers and if they might be affecting you more.
Have I come across a new trigger?
Have you been around an animal or pet? Did you start a new job, or go on holiday? Tell your doctor if youve spotted a new trigger. They can help you deal with it.
What else has been going on in my life lately?
Have I noticed hormonal changes?
How Is Asthma Treated
Take your medicine exactly as your doctor tells you and stay away from things that can trigger an attack to control your asthma.
Everyone with asthma does not take the same medicine.
You can breathe in some medicines and take other medicines as a pill. Asthma medicines come in two typesquick-relief and long-term control. Quick-relief medicines control the symptoms of an asthma attack. If you need to use your quick-relief medicines more and more, visit your doctor to see if you need a different medicine. Long-term control medicines help you have fewer and milder attacks, but they dont help you while you are having an asthma attack.
Asthma medicines can have side effects, but most side effects are mild and soon go away. Ask your doctor about the side effects of your medicines.
Remember you can control your asthma. With your doctors help, make your own asthma action plan. Decide who should have a copy of your plan and where he or she should keep it. Take your long-term control medicine even when you dont have symptoms.
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Use A Peak Flow Meter
A peak flow meter is an inexpensive handheld gadget. You use it to measure how fast air comes out when you exhale hard after a full breath in. This number is called a peak expiratory flow .
Your doctor may want you to use a peak flow meter to help you recognize signs of trouble. Many asthma symptoms result from not being able to move air out of your lungs. If your PEF goes down, that’s a sign that your asthma is getting worse and that you need to do something.
What Should I Do If I Have A Severe Asthma Attack
A severe asthma attack needs immediate medical care. The first step is your rescue inhaler. A rescue inhaler uses fast-acting medicines to open up your airways. Its different than your normal maintenance inhaler, which you use every day. You should only use the rescue inhaler in an emergency.
If your rescue inhaler doesnt help or you dont have it with you, go to the emergency department if you have:
- Anxiety or panic.
- Bluish fingernails, bluish lips or gray or whitish lips or gums .
- Chest pain or pressure.
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How To Cure Asthma Permanently At Home With Natural Remedies
Asthma is a chronic lung disease that causes inflammation and narrowing of the bronchial tubes. Very common symptoms of asthma are shortness of breath, hearing a wheezing or whistling sound in the chest, or cough for a long time. 26 million people have asthma in the USA, out of which 7 million asthma patients are children. Asthma is a genetic disease that runs from one generation to another generation.
50 % of patients suffer because their family had this disease at some point in time in their lives, and the rest are suffering because of environmental effects. There are treatments that can cure this disease. You can cure Asthma at home with natural remedies without medicine and live a healthy and active life.
Asthma affects on airways system of the body
Take Action Now To Lower Your Risk Of An Asthma Attack
If youre getting more asthma symptoms its a sign that your airways are getting more inflamed and narrow. This makes it harder for air to get through and means an asthma attack is more likely.
The sooner you can treat the inflammation in your airways, the sooner you can lower your risk of an asthma attack.
See your doctor today
- Ask the receptionist for an urgent same day appointment. Tell them your asthmas getting worse and you need to see a GP or asthma nurse for urgent advice to avoid having an asthma attack.
- If you cant get an urgent same day appointment, or your GP surgery is closed, . They may be able to arrange for you to be seen at a walk-in centre or by an out of hours doctor.
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Is Magnesium Sulfate Effective
The scientific evidence supporting the use of magnesium sulfate in the treatment of severe asthma is mixed.
The researchers randomly assigned the children to receive either nebulized magnesium sulfate or a , in addition to standard asthma medications.
They concluded that nebulized magnesium sulfate in combination with standard treatment did not produce a clinically significant improvement in the childrens asthma symptoms.
However, the authors noted that children with more severe asthma symptoms showed the most significant response to magnesium treatment.
In 2014, another large British trial set out to establish how effectively magnesium sulfate could reduce asthma symptoms.
The authors recruited 1,109 adults with severe acute asthma and randomly assigned participants to receive either IV magnesium, nebulized magnesium, or standard therapy alone.
The researchers were reportedly unable to demonstrate a clinically worthwhile benefit of magnesium sulfate treatment. However, they found some weak evidence that IV magnesium sulfate could reduce the number of hospitalizations due to asthma attacks.
The findings of a systematic review, published in the same year, were more positive. The researchers analyzed data from 14 trials that had compared IV magnesium sulfate treatment to placebos in adults with acute asthma.
You Can Control Your Asthma
You can control your asthma! When you control your asthma, you will breathe easier, be as active as you would like, sleep well, stay out of the hospital, and be free from coughing and wheezing. Learn about controlling your asthma at CDCs asthma site.
Asthma is one of the most common lifelong chronic diseases. One in 13 Americans lives with asthma, a disease affecting the lungs and causing repeated episodes of wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness, and coughing.
Although asthma cannot be cured, you can control your asthma successfully to reduce and to prevent asthma attacks, also called episodes. Successful asthma management includes knowing the warning signs of an attack, avoiding things that may trigger an attack, and working with your doctor to develop your personal Asthma Action Plan. CDCs National Asthma Control Program has worked to help millions of people with asthma in the United States gain control over their disease since 1999. CCARE, Controlling Childhood Asthma and Reducing Emergencies, is the programs new objective of preventing 500,000 Emergency Department visits and hospitalizations due to asthma by August 31, 2024.
Asthma deaths have decreased over time and varied by demographic characteristics. The rate of asthma deaths decreased from 15 per million in 2001 to 10 per million in 2018. Deaths due to asthma are rare and are thought to be largely preventable, particularly among children and young adults.
Asthma deaths have decreased over time.
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Can Asthma Be Prevented
Asthma cant be prevented entirely, but there are some practical ways to reduce the risk of an asthma attack and live well with asthma.
- Get vaccinated for influenza: flu and other respiratory viruses are common triggers for asthma.
- Manage any allergies: asthma and allergies are closely linked, so treating allergic rhinitis and avoiding or managing any allergy triggers will help with your asthma.
- Live smoke-free: quit smoking if you smoke, and avoid any second-hand smoke .
- Eat well: a balanced diet helps you to maintain a healthy weight. Being overweight or obese makes asthma harder to manage.
- Care for yourself: mental health and asthma are linked, so let a trusted friend or your doctor know if you have been feeling sad or anxious, or dont enjoy things as much as before.
- See your doctor regularly: asthma needs to be regularly assessed and managed, and your medication needs may change over time. Ensure your asthma action plan is up to date by checking in with your doctor regularly.
Symptoms Of Cough Variant Asthma
- The only characteristic feature of a case of CVA is an unexplained chronic cough that doesnât seem to be rooted in any other condition or cause.
- This cough is usually dry, which means it is not accompanied by phlegm or mucus expulsion and lasts at least six to eight weeks.
- Although CVA does not present any of the other symptoms typically associated with asthma, such as fluid in the lungs, chest tightness, shortness of breath, and wheezing, it affects the airways in the same way as its more traditional counterpart does. To expand further, the bronchial tubes tend to become hyper-responsive and tighten up, making breathing increasingly difficult. Thus, itâs essential to manage CVA properly to avoid grave complications.
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When To Talk With Your Doctor
Most of the time, mucus is a mild annoyance or a frustrating symptom. However, in certain situations, you may want to bring up mucus with your doctor. The color of your mucus can indicate if there is a bigger issue at hand. If your mucus is clear to slightly white color, this is considered normal. If your mucus is green, this can signal an infection. If it is streaked with red, this could mean that there is an infection in your chest, and you should see your doctor.1
Less Common Coughing Causes
In nonsmokers, the Big Five account for more than nine of every 10 chronic coughs. But other problems can and do cause lingering coughs.
Lung infections make people cough. Most cases of pneumonia are acute infections requiring rapid diagnosis and treatment. However, some lung infections can be more indolent and can cause a persistent cough. Fever is an important clue to infectious causes of persistent coughing.
Pertussis is a respiratory tract infection that can cause serious problems in children who have not been immunized properly with diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus vaccine. Pertussis began to resurface in adolescents and adults because the original tetanus-diphtheria booster shots did not cover pertussis and the vaccines effectiveness wears off over time.
Heart disease can masquerade as lung disease if coughing and breathlessness are its main symptoms. Its a common occurrence in patients with heart failure . Their cough is most pronounced when theyre lying flat, so they often resort to sleeping propped up on pillows. The cough of HF may be dry, or it may produce thin, frothy white sputum. Leg swelling, fatigue, and exercise intolerance are other common symptoms of HF.
Abnormal swallowing can lead to persistent coughing if food triggers the cough reflex by heading down the windpipe instead of the food pipe. Called aspiration, the problem occurs mainly in people with strokes or other neurologic disorders that hamper normal swallowing.
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How Should An Asthma Cough Be Treated
If your doctor diagnoses you with cough-variant , treatment is generally the same as treatment for other types of asthma. These inhaled medications are available in rapid-acting, long-acting, and combination formulations. Your cough should get better gradually with the use of these common asthma medications:
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Bronchodilators rapidly relieve coughing and other asthma symptoms, such as wheezing and . You generally take quick-relief medications by breathing them into your lungs with an inhaler. A commonly prescribed quick-relief medication is , a bronchodilator that relieves your cough by relaxing and opening your narrowed airways.
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Inhaled corticosteroids help relieve your cough by reducing airway inflammation.
A Soothing Honey Drink
Honey is another very effective natural cure for CVA. The sweetness of honey stimulates your salivary glands to produce more saliva, which in turn lubricates your airways, easing your cough. It also has antioxidant properties that fight inflammation and boost immunity.
As store-bought honey often comes packed with additional taste-enhancing ingredients such as high fructose corn syrup or sugar, itâs best to visit a local health store to get premium-quality unadulterated raw honey.
- Add 1 tablespoon of raw honey to 1 glass of warm water or milk and drink it slowly. Repeat a few times a day. This drink will have a soothing effect on the throat.
- Alternatively, mix equal quantities of honey, ginger juice, and pomegranate juice. Consume 1 tablespoon of this mixture 2 or 3 times a day.
- Before going to bed, consume 1 to 2 teaspoons of raw honey with a little cinnamon powder.
- Add 1 tablespoon of raw honey to 1 glass of warm tea with lemon and drink slowly.
Note:Clostridium botulinum
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Have A Warm Glass Of Turmeric Milk
Turmeric can also be used to treat CVA. It has a therapeutic effect on coughs, mainly dry coughs. It also reduces inflammation in the airways, which aids the healing process. Owing to its antiviral, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory properties, turmeric has been proven to be effective for the treatment of bronchial asthma as well.
Its immune-boosting property also helps your body fight infections.
- Drink a glass of warm milk mixed with ½ teaspoon of turmeric powder twice a day.
- Roast turmeric root and grind it into a smooth powder. Mix 1 tablespoon of raw honey and ½ teaspoon of turmeric powder. Take this twice daily until your condition improves.
- Another option is to drink a glass of warm milk mixed with ½ teaspoon of turmeric powder twice a day.
Pay Attention To The Air
Cold, dry air can irritate the lungs. When you go outside on wintery days, cover your nose and mouth with a scarf. If you cough or wheeze when you exercise in the cold, go to the gym or try an indoor workout class, instead.
During allergy season, keep track of pollen levels, and stay indoors when they are highest. You can keep tabs on your local air quality year-round at web sites like AirNow.gov. On days when ozone or pollution levels are unhealthy for people with lung diseases, it’s smart to spend as little time outdoors as possible.
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There Are Two Easy Ways To Check Your Asthma Control:
1. Baylor College of Medicine’s Rules of Two®
- Do you have asthma symptoms or use your quick-relief inhaler more than two times per week?
- Do you awaken at night with symptoms more than two times per month?
- Do you refill your quick-relief inhaler more than two times per year?
If you answer “yes” to one or more questions, your asthma may not be well controlled. Plan a visit with your healthcare provider and share your results.
2. Asthma Control Test
Answer five questions about your asthma to determine if your asthma is well controlled. There is a test for children and adults. This assessment provides a score. Share the results with your healthcare provider.
What Are Natural Remedies For Asthma
With all the studies on alternative medicine and natural remedies, you may wonder if thereâs a natural cure for asthma. Unfortunately, there is no cure for asthma at this point. In fact, you should avoid any treatment or product — natural or otherwise — that claims to be a “cure” for asthma.
Some natural therapies may help you manage symptoms of asthma. For instance, a negative response to emotional stress can cause an asthma attack. Some natural relaxation remedies like deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, guided imagery, and biofeedback can help relieve stress.
Other findings suggest that diet plays a role in easing asthma symptoms. For example, omega-3 fatty acids found naturally in high-fat fish like salmon, mackerel, and cod may help your body fight inflammation. Whether this may help people who have asthma is still unproven.
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