The cough lasting 8 weeks or longer is chronic cough. Chronic cough is not a disease rather it is a symptom. Coughing has a purpose. It is your body’s way of keeping unwanted stuff from getting into your lungs. Coughing makes person very tired, continuous coughing leads to headache, chest pain, and stomach pain. It usually aggravates during night which makes the patient unable to sleep at night which in turn leads to discomfort and irritation.Some patients with chronic cough fail to seek medical attention because of lack of concern. PATHOPHYSIOLOGY OF CHRONIC COUGH:
Cough is important because it clears foreign objects and secretions from the respiratory tract. Unfortunately it also can transmit disease via droplets and contamination of objects. The cough reflex is complex. Although some evidence suggests the presence of a cough center in the medulla, cough generally results from irritant stimulation of one or more receptors in the respiratory system. For cough to be effective in removing mucus and foreign objects from the airways, high intrathorasic pressures and airflow must be achieved. These high pressures are thought to contribute to the discomfort associated with coughing.
CAUSES OF CHRONIC COUGH:
- Smoking.
- Asthma
- Gastro esophageal reflux disease.
- Sinus problem.
- Infection such as bronchitis or pneumonia.
- Whooping cough.
- COPD, TB.
- Due to the causative factors, the vata in the body gets vitiated, this in turn vitiate the pranavayu and udana vayu which travels in the opposite direction, causing cough.
AYURVEDA TREATMENT OF CHRONIC COUGH:
In ayurveda, it is told that before treating a disease, first the causative factor should be taken care which is called as nidana parviarjana. Later symptomatic treatment should be given. And there are special treatment methods in Healing Earth Multispeciality Ayurveda Hospital starting with single medications to multiple medicines depending up on the severity of the disease.