Dear Reader,

Coughing is the body's response to an irritant, an attempt to rid the body of that irritant, or an effort to open up blocked airways. The most common causes of cough are smoking, colds, sinus infections, bronchitis, allergies, and asthma. However, a number of less common, but more serious, kinds of conditions can also cause coughing. These include pneumonia, exposure to toxic substances, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (or emphysema), heart problems, acid reflux from the stomach, and lung cancer.

How to treat a cough will depend upon its cause. Here are some things that health care providers might recommend.

Persistent coughs compromise a good night's sleep. Figuring out what is causing all that coughing will probably require a visit to a health care provider.

Cough medicines may be helpful. However, because there are many of them on the market, it's important to know what is causing the cough in order to choose a cough medicine that contains the right ingredients. Dextromethorphan is an ingredient that helps suppress coughs, thus helping you sleep, but it's not appropriate for people with asthma. Codeine is also very good at suppressing a cough, but it's available only by prescription and it's habit-forming. Guaifenesin is an ingredient that helps liquefy mucus, allowing it to be coughed up. This may help during the day, but it won't help you sleep. A health care provider can help guide the choice of the right kind of preparation to treat a cough based on your symptoms and diagnosis. An important note, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) now recommends that children under two years of age should not be given cough medicine and is evaluating the safety of common cough medicine for older children and adults.

Some general things that can help quiet a cough include:

• keeping the bedroom humidified (using a cold-air vaporizer, for example)
• drinking lots of fluids — enough to keep urine colorless and odorless — to help liquefy the mucus, making it easier to cough up. You can keep a water or diluted juice bottle near your desk at work or with you if you're out and about.
• drinking hot liquids or eating soups
• sucking on cough drops or hard candy to soothe a tickly throat (maybe before you try sleeping)
• propping up on pillows or sleeping on 2 or 3 pillows to help ease post-nasal drip, thus minimizing the need to clear your throat

The following symptoms need immediate medical attention:

• a cough in a young baby (especially under 3 months of age)
• a cough that lasts more than ten days
• sudden, violent coughing
• whistling, high-pitched, or wheezing sounds with breathing
• a cough that brings up blood
• a cough that brings up thick, green, yellow, rusty-looking, or foul smelling mucus
• shortness of breath, difficulty breathing
• chest pain
• fever
• awakening at night, drenched in sweat
• unintentional weight loss

If the person with a cough is a baby or child, it's particularly important to consult a health care provider before giving any medicines. And if you have chronic symptoms, it may be a good idea to visit your health care provider to rule out any underlying medical concerns. Best wishes for restful nights,

Alice

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