What causes cough? Home
A cough is an action the body takes to get rid of substances that are
irritating to the air passages, which carry the air a person breathes in from
the nose and mouth to the lungs.
A cough is a
reflex action to clear your airways of mucus and irritants such as dust or
smoke. It's rarely a sign of anything serious.
A cough is
considered "acute" if it lasts less than three weeks. It is
considered "chronic" if it lasts longer than eight weeks (four weeks
in children).
Causes:
- · Asthma
- · Allergic Rhinitis
- · Common Cold
- · Tuberculosis
- · Sinus Infections (Sinusitis)
- · Chronic Bronchitis
- · Emphysema
- · Congestive Heart Failure (CHF)
- · Types of Acid Reflux
- · Tonsillitis
- · Pulmonary Edema
- · Hookworm Infections
- · Pneumonia
- · Lung Cancer
- · Bronchiectasis
- · Pulmonary Fibrosis
- · MRSA (Staph) Infection
- · Laryngitis
- · Croup
- · Swine Flu
- · Whooping Cough (Pertussis)
- · Dissection of the Aorta
- · Allergies
- · Collapse of the Lung (Penumothorax)
- · Infectious Mononucleosis
- · RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) Infection
- · Systemic Sclerosis (Scleroderma)
- · COPD
- · Swallowed (or Inhaled) Foreign Object
- · Pleurisy
- · Small Cell Lung Cancer
- · The Catastrophy of Cardiac Tamponade
- · Heart Attack
- · Fluid in the Chest (Pleural Effusion)
- · Cystic Fibrosis
- · Chickenpox
- · Measles
- · Sarcoidosis
- · Cor Pulmonare
- · Encephalitis
- · Goodpasture syndrome
- · Respiratory Acidosis
- · Mitral Valve Stenosis
- · Costochondritis (Tietze's Syndrome)
- · Histoplasmosis
- · Empyema
- · Pulmonary Actinomycosis
- · Asbestosis
- · Acute Mountain Sickness
- · Valley Fever (Coccidioidomycosis)
- · The Plague
- · Absence of Gamma Globulin in Blood
- · Anthrax
- · Bird Flu
- · Aspergillosis
- · Nicotine Dependence
- · Goiter
- · Esophagitis
- · Mitral Valve Prolapse
- · Ischemic Cardiomyopathy
- · Marijuana Dependence
- · Hypertensive Heart Disease
- · Fifth Disease
- · Laryngeal Cancer
- · Thyroid Cancer
- · Neutropenia
- · Achalasia
- · SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome)
- · Esophageal Cancer
- · Kaposi's Sarcoma
- · Alcoholic Cardiomyopathy
- · Weils Disease
- · Leishmaniasis
- · Silicosis
- · Malignant Hypertension (Arteriolar Nephrosclerosis)
- · Transfusion Reactions
- · Actinomycosis
- · Caplan's Syndrome
- · Heart Failure
- · Hypersensitivity (Allergic) Vasculitis
- · Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency
- · Peripartum Cardiomyopathy
- · Metastatic Lung Cancer
- · Thyroid Nodule
References:
- http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Cough/Pages/Introduction.aspx
- http://www.healthline.com/symptom/cough
- http://www.emedicinehealth.com/coughs/article_em.htm
