Cough helps to keep our airway clean. It is a reflex that ensures any foreign body that tries to get into the airway is thrown out in a bout or two. It shouldn't be surprising then to know that cough is actually a good thing put there to protect the sensitive airway.
Coughs don’t normally last that long and short stop as soon as the offending trigger has been cleared, but we know from observation and experience that it could last much longer. We usually regard any such cough that lasts over 8 weeks as a chronic cough.
What are the causes of chronic cough?
Smoking
Making the top of the list and deservedly so is cigarette smoking. When you smoke, the burning of tobacco produces about 4,000 compounds—including thousands of irritants. You shouldn’t be surprised then as a known smoker if you suffer from chronic cough—if you don't, who should?!
Smoking is a risk factor for major respiratory diseases, including chronic bronchitis, chronic obstructive airway disease, and emphysema, each of which presents with cough that won’t go away. If you are also asthmatic, smoking will keep your symptoms persistent and poorly controlled for a long time.
Secondhand smoke
Chronic cough is not an exclusive ailment of direct smokers. If you live with, work with, or constantly stay with the smoker, you stand a greater risk of suffering from chronic cough. You may be surprised to know that your risk can be greater because the side-stream smoke that comes from secondhand smoking more toxic than the main steam stream straw smoke which the data smoker inhales. So, second-hand smoking, passive smoking or environmental tobacco smoke, all referring to the same thing, increases your chances of suffering from chronic cough.
Environmental particulate pollution
Environmental pollution, especially from particulate (very tiny) matter, is one of the causes of chronic cough. If you live or work in an area with constant particulate environmental pollution, you should not be surprised at your constant complaint of chronic cough.
For instances, in some areas of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, the air is heavily laden with soot from operations of crude oil and petroleum industries. Over time, soot settles in the lungs, causing what is called chemical pneumonia, which causes prolonged cough, difficulty breathing, and chest pain. You may want to consider relocating to a different area to keep your lungs working optimally in the years to come.
People who work around respiratory toxins such as asbestos and dust may also come down with serious lung problems after some years. These chemicals accumulate in the lungs, destroying the lung tissue, and causing serious trouble breathing and cough. In some cases, they could lead to lung cancer.
Inflamed sinuses
Otherwise called rhinosinusitis, inflamed sinuses another cause of chronic cough.Sinuses are small hollow structures in the skull around the nose; they produce mucus that keeps the nose from being overtly dry. However, inflamed sinuses secrete a lot of mucus, which drips downward to the throat causing constant irritation to the upper airway. This causes chronic cough over time. So when you have nasal congestion that does not go away, and that comes with cough, you may want a doctor to have a look at your sinuses.
Take-home message: Cough may be irritating and uncomfortable, but it is protective. It should last a short while, but it could last longer. When cough continues for 8 weeks or more, doctors call it chronic cough, which often signals a more serious respiratory problem.
