What is a cough? It is a defensive reaction of the human organism to environmental changes. This reflex, which provides an open airway. And cough, as a temporary, one-time phenomenon is not necessary to treat, because it helps the normal functioning of the lungs and helps cleanse the bronchial tree from outsiders, including disease-causing factors. In other words, an inherent ability to cough every healthy person. On the other hand, are often accompanied by cough various diseases of the respiratory system. In such cases, the nature of it can be different: dry, with phlegm, hoarse, barking, and so on. Accordingly, a cough need to worry only if it causes considerable inconvenience to man.

In the first place, cough occurs after hypothermia. In the morning dressed easy, and in the evening came the rain drenched the legs - that's the reason for the first signs of incipient colds and dry cough. This kind of cough is also called counter-productive and can be and must be fought. It is different from any other that does not remove phlegm, and together with it and all the germs from the respiratory tract. Therefore, in this case the treatment is the use of drugs that can enhance the cough reflex, and to translate it from unproductive to productive status. This is accomplished by dilution of viscous bronchial secretion and release him from the airways. Furthermore, it is necessary to prevent irritation of the mucosa and, in the last stage, to suppress the cough reflex pathological.

If, after getting rid of cold symptoms cough continued to torment a few weeks, differing in nature, duration and time of occurrence (ie the day, at night), most likely, the patient developed complications in the form of bronchitis. This means that the respiratory tract mucosa attack bacteria. In this case, you can not self-medicate and consult a doctor, who prescribed a course of antibiotic therapy.

To know what is possible and necessary to treat cough, you need to navigate the pharmacological properties and intended use of certain medicines .  So, there are cough medicines central and peripheral actions .  Centrally acting drugs designed to inhibit the function of the cough center of the medulla oblongata .  These include funds from narcotic effect, which are used rarely, mostly when other medications do not bring relief, as well as to quickly suppress cough during bronchoscopy and bronhografii .  The best known drugs of this category are morphine and codeine .  The second type of centrally acting antitussive drugs - a non-narcotic drugs used for the treatment of infectious inflammation of the airways (eg, butamirata, oxeladin) .  They are more effective in combination with drugs act peripherally with shielding effect, such as bronholitin .

Cough medicine peripheral actions affect the afferent (ie sensitivity or receptor) or efferent (ie motor or muscle) components of the cough reflex, or both at the same time link .  Thus, drugs afferent action reduces the cough reflex, alter the viscosity of secretions .  This category also includes means enveloping the actions that are used for inflammation of the upper respiratory tract and are able to protect the nasal mucosa from the irritating effects of pathological factors - a herbal teas, syrups, glycerin, honey, extracts of eucalyptus, acacia and so on .  In the same category are topical anesthetics (benzocaine, tsiklain, tertakain), which dulls the sensitivity of the inflamed mucosa and inhibit the cough reflex .  Formulations efferent action, conversely, increase the mobility secretions, as well as the efficiency and strength of the cough reflex, whereby the body is cleaned intensively against pathogens .  These properties are different aerosols (eg Flomax), steam inhalation, excessive drinking .  This category includes expectorants, increasing the number of allocated sputum (marshmallow, anise, rosemary, licorice and so on), and mucolytics (acetylcysteine, bromhexine, ambroxol, etc.) that remove phlegm due to changes in its structure, without increasing the amount of .

However appoint one or another drug the doctor can only after an objective assessment of the nature of cough, and general condition of the patient.

Zhiguli Andrew

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