How Caugh Generates in Human Body
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| Caugh |
Most coughs will go away after a week or two without any treatment.
How and why do we cough?
It's an old form of yoga dude. No. Before explaining the how we caugh, let's first understand why we cough.
Body's Protective Mechanism
Coughing is body's protective mechanism. Which helps us clear our breathing passage of dust, microbes, irritants, etc.
There are two types of cough, Those are - wet and dry. They maybe caused due to common cold, flu, allergies, smoking, etc.
How We Caugh
Now, let us see how we cough. When anything irritates our breathing passage, our brain activates the cough response.
First of all, we gasp in, a large volume of air into our lungs.
Next, the epiglottis closes off the windpipe. Then, the rib and abdominal muscles contract, putting pressure on the lungs.
But, as the windpipe is closed, the air can't move out, so pressure builds up. Finally, the epiglottis opens and air forcefully rushes out. Carrying the irritant and thus, producing a cough.
Say now, If you reach for the cough medicine, you're not alone. Every year, people spend billions of dollars on this stuff.
But does it work? Coughing is a natural reflex that clears your airways of anything that's not supposed to be in there. When some kind of irritant floats into your nose or mouth, receptors in the airways send signals to your brain, sounding the alarm.
Then another message is sent back to your diaphragm and you cough at speeds of up to 50 mph. Other mammals do this too.
Oh! Well! But, what do you do when that cough becomes more than just annoying? If you were born in the 1800s, your old time cough syrup might have consisted of morphine, alcohol, cannabis, chloroform or even HEROIN.
Oops! Fortunately today's cough medicines contain a number of more reasonable active ingredients. One or more of these are probably in your cough medicine. Antitussives like dextromethorphan or DXM, are meant to block the cough reflex. They can also make you drowsy. Fine if you're headed to bed.
Fine, if you need to drive anywhere or need to do anything else for that matter that does'nt involve sleeping Deeply.
Expectorants like guaifenesin are designed to loosen and thin the mucus in your lungs, making it easier to cough out the gunk in your airways. Antihistamines like loratadine reduce swelling of the nose and throat and decrease the amount of gooey mucus that your lungs secrete when you have allergies. Okay, but does any of this stuff actually work?
We looked at a few systematic reviews that asked this question. We at Reactions love us some systematic reviews, since they analyze evidence from lots of different studies in one place. Their results?
There is very little evidence that cough syrup is effective at treating coughs. And carefully performed clinical trials show that these medications are generally no better than a placebo. In one review, of the 19 studies analyzed, 15 either showed no benefit, or the results were conflicting.
Other reviews had similar findings. They said that there is no good evidence for or against the effectiveness of over-the-counter medicines in acute cough. So there is no guarantee that cough syrup will do anything for your cough. Though it could help you get a better night's sleep.
Just do'nt try and fix things by taking a larger dose. Seriously, do not do this. Large doses of DXM can cause dizziness, uncontrollable eye movement, convulsions and even death! It's especially dangerous for young children -- thousands of kids under 12 are sent to the emergency room every year because of accidental overdoses on cough medicine.
Before you ask, apart from any placebo effect, treatments with echinacea, vitamin C or zinc will probably not help your cough either. Bummer. But, there are some oldies but goodies that can help with your hacking cough. Drink plenty of fluid. That should help to thin out any extra mucus and reduce your cough reflex.
A humidifier or a steamy shower also helps reduce congestion. Cough drops get the saliva flowing, which can soothe your irritated throat . What about honey and lemon? Though there's not a lot of research on its effectiveness in coughs.
Most coughs will go away after a week or two without any treatment
And it has been reported to help relieve cough in kids by soothing the back of the throat. And it tastes great! Especially in hot tea. Tea time! The good news is that most coughs will go away after a week or two without any treatment. But if that cough lasts more than a few weeks, see your doctor. Do you have a cough remedy that you swear by? Let us know in the comments.
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See you next time.
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