Cough, why not delay – Asthma Blog

If you are not sure about the origin of cough, you should not give a person antitussive drugs – this can seriously worsen the situation.

Cough is a reflex aimed at restoring the airway. In the life of a person, it occurs exclusively frequently. In essence, this is a defensive reaction aimed at removing dust, foreign particles, and bronchial mucus from the airways.

For the occurrence of cough is responsible cough center of the brain, which is activated during irritation of the respiratory tract.

Why does this happen?

In acute respiratory infections, a cough can be a symptom of the following diseases:

laryngitis – inflammation of the larynx;manifested by hoarseness and rough “barking” cough;
tracheitis – inflammation of the trachea;cough is accompanied by pain behind the sternum;
bronchitis – inflammation of the bronchi, which is characterized by first dry, and then wet cough with profuse purulent sputum;
pneumonia – pneumonia;the cough is often unproductive, with the development of the disease sputum of purulent nature may be emitted.

Other causes of coughing include:

First of all, it can be an allergic reaction.An allergic cough can be the initial manifestation of asthma, so it is important to identify the allergen and try to avoid it.
Consideration should be given to the possibility of hitting anything in the respiratory tract – in this respect young children are especially creative.If you suspect that a child has any foreign body in the airway (part from a toy, a coin, a pea, etc.) – contact your doctor immediately.
A characteristic paroxysmal cough with long, deep breaths can be a symptom of whooping cough.If you are an opponent of vaccinations, then your child may well pick up the disease.
Chronic cough can be a sign of a hereditary disease -cystic fibrosis . This disease occurs degeneration of the mucous glands, including the bronchial, which leads to chronic inflammation of the bronchi and lungs.
Sometimes a prolonged cough may be the result of … treatment.True, not the cough itself, but another disease. The fact is that among the side effects of some medications there is a cough. These drugs are used, for example, to treat hypertension, heart failure, and other diseases. The popularity and scope of such drugs is increasing, which means that the likelihood of side effects also increases.

Cough can be a symptom of such terrible diseases as lung cancer, tuberculosis. Therefore, it is better not to delay the visit to the doctor, especially if the cough does not go away for a long time (weeks, months), even in the absence of other symptoms.

You can not postpone the visit to the doctor when the cough is accompanied by:

fever;
sweating;
weight loss;
thick, colorless or blood-stained sputum;
shortness of breath;
difficulty or impossibility of lying in a horizontal position;
edema, especially if they lead to an increase in body weight;
chest pain;
excessive fatigue;
loss of appetite or constant nausea.

Even if the cough doesn’t annoy you much, but it does not go away for three months or more, you need to consult a doctor and determine the source of this problem.

If you are not sure about the origin of cough, you should not give a person antitussive drugs, i.e. drugs that remove the cough reflex – this can seriously worsen the situation. In any case, it is better to consult a pulmonary doctor.

Diseases accompanied by coughing are dangerous because the disease, as doctors say, can “go inside”, i.e. beginning with inflammation of the upper respiratory tract, spread to all lungs, and in this case, of course, it is harder to cure, and the consequences may be more serious.

Myths about tuberculosis and the truth about immunity

Many consider tuberculosis to be a disease of the past, something far away and completely irrelevant to the prosperous present. But if you start to understand what our contemporaries are aware of tuberculosis, then you can face a lot of prejudices, which are based on a banal lack of information.Let’s try to dispel the most common myths.

Let’s try to dispel the most common myths.

Myth 1. Tuberculosis is an endangered disease.

Tuberculosis was an endangered disease in the 1960s and 80s. But now again there is a surge in it. Since 1990 in the USA , the number of patients with tuberculosis has increased by 2.58 times, and the number of deaths from this disease – by 2.47 times. Experts compare these figures with the post-war situation of the late 1940s. If we talk about the situation in the world, then according to the latest WHO data, more than two billion people today (this is one third of the world’s population!) Are infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. And every tenth infected gets sick.

Myth 2. Tuberculosis is a disease of developing countries

You can say so. There is a “black list” of states with severe tuberculosis conditions. It includes: Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, China, Brazil, Mexico, Ethiopia, Zaire, South Africa and …. Today in our country, the death rate from tuberculosis per year is 18 people per 100 thousand inhabitants, and about 25,000 people die from tuberculosis every year. In Europe, tuberculosis mortality is about three times less.

Myth 3. Tuberculosis only affects prisoners and the homeless.

Yes, indeed, the reservoir of tuberculosis are places of detention. The huge overcrowding of prisoners in prisons inevitably leads to the spread of infection. When sick people go free and find themselves in public places, they have every chance to transmit the disease to others. Well, and about the increased number of homeless people and “labor migrants” who do not apply for honey . n omoschyu generally unnecessary.

As a result, at the beginning of the 21st century, tuberculosis turned from a disease of prisoners and homeless people into a disease of quite prosperous people.

Myth 4. It is difficult to become infected with tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis is contagious and dangerous. It is transmitted by airborne droplets. No one is guaranteed from the “meeting” with him – in the store and public transport. In addition, the insects around us can be carriers of tuberculosis: flies and cockroaches. Another infection is possible when kissing, “ dokurivanii ” someone else’s cigarettes and even through books. The last explanation is quite simple – the tuberculosis bacilli are extremely resistant to cold, heat, moisture and light. For example, in street dust they persist for three months, and exactly the same amount can remain alive on the pages of books.

Tuberculosis, unlike other infections, often has a hidden, chronic course, which greatly increases the likelihood of its spread. Weakness, weakness, sweating, fever in the range of 37-37,5 ° C , reduced performance and appetite – such symptoms are easily attributed to a banal cold. And with the modern rhythm of life and work, very few of the diseased at all go to the doctor with such complaints.

It is estimated that during the year one patient with an open form of tuberculosis infects an average of 10-15 people.

Myth 5. Tuberculosis can be easily defeated with modern medicines.

Unfortunately, due to the fact that the tuberculosis bacilli develop resistance to anti-tuberculosis drugs, the disease is increasingly severe and it is becoming more and more difficult to treat. To prevent the development of resistance, doctors usually prescribe three, four or more chemotherapy drugs.

However, this is not enough. Properly prescribed chemotherapy affects only the pathogen, but does not eliminate all the changes that have occurred in the body as a result of the disease, and therefore can not provide a full recovery. It should be clearly understood that the effectiveness of treatment for tuberculosis depends on the state of the immune system. Therefore, it is important to include in the complex treatment of drugs that support immunity ( immunotropic drugs). They will help to stimulate the body’s defenses and bring the sick person’s immune system back to normal.

With the building of a number of unique new generation immunomodulators that can break even in the most severe cases for tuberculosis. Among them, the modern immunomodulator Polyoxidonium has found wide application .

In the patient’s body, the drug has four major effects at once:

pronounced immunomodulatory – leads to normal performance of the immune system;
detoxification- removes decay products from the body (cells, pathogens of tuberculosis) and reduces the toxic effects of chemotherapy drugs;
antioxidant – protects against the action of free radicals (the main culprits of the destruction and aging of cells in the human body);
membrane- protective effect – strengthens the cell walls, preventing their death.

Over the past 10 years, Polyoxidonium has passed many clinical trials that have confirmed its effectiveness. It is one of the most studied immunomodulators in the world. Moreover, in 10 years of testing, no side effects have been noted.

In the course of research, experts found that the use of Polyoxidonium in tuberculosis contributes to:

resorption of inflammatory changes (infiltrates) in the lung tissue;
elimination of “destruction” (destructive changes) in the lungs;
cessation of tuberculosis pathogen.

Polyoxidonium is prescribed in addition to the main antibacterial treatment in the form of intramuscular injections (2 times a week with a course of up to 10-15 injections) and ultrasound inhalations (using an ultrasonic inhaler 2 times a week with a course of up to 10-15 sessions of aerosol therapy ).

On average, each patient takes 5 weeks to treat.

But after 1-2 weeks from the start of immunotherapy, patients feel an improvement in overall well-being, complaints from the respiratory system are reduced.

After a month of treatment with Polyoxidonium , the altered immunity indices are approaching normal, and chemotherapy gives a good result.