[Repost] A new trick to reduce nighttime cough: Eat dinner earlier.

Article excerpted from Liangyi Health Network

Coughing is a self-defense mechanism of the respiratory system and a kind of nerve reflex. When the cough receptors in the respiratory tract are stimulated by external factors, a series of coughs will be triggered to expel harmful inflammation, infection, irritants and pollutants from the body. Recently, due to the influence of the northeast monsoon, the concentration of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in the air has exceeded the standard, and haze has invaded Taiwan. In addition, waves of cold air masses from the mainland have made the climate more unstable than in previous years. There has been a significant increase in patients seeking medical treatment for persistent coughing, coughing until they wake up, and coughing until they vomit.

Many people believe that a persistent cough is related to the lungs in the lower respiratory tract. However, the lungs are at the back of the respiratory tract, and only the large trachea and bronchi in the lungs have abundant cough receptors, so they are not necessarily the main cause of a persistent cough.

The pharynx, which contains most of the cough receptors and is located at the forefront of the upper respiratory tract, plays an indispensable and crucial role.

A persistent cough requires finding the cause.Observe for any changes in diet, sleep, etc.

After catching a cold, the cough tends to last a long time, and even with cough medicine, the cough still comes and goes. If it cannot be effectively controlled, you should consider whether the cold has turned into pneumonia, whether you have asthma and it is not well controlled, or whether there are some conditions or diseases that can cause chronic cough, such as: heavy smokers, emphysema or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a history of tuberculosis, or even the dreaded lung cancer.

If you've already had tests done and ruled out the above-mentioned diseases, there's no need to rush into taking medication to cure it quickly. What you should do is carefully observe changes in your body, such as: how much activity you've been doing during the day recently; is there a connection between your persistent cough and the timing, type, and amount of food you eat; how well you've been sleeping at night lately, and whether you've had many dreams; whether you experience an unusually strong urge to urinate or a large amount of urine at night; whether you easily feel a dry mouth, have phlegm stuck in your throat, or have excessive eye discharge after waking up in the morning; and whether you experience soreness in your shoulders, neck, or the inner edges of your shoulder blades upon waking up in the morning.

These are common symptoms of postnasal drip, gastroesophageal reflux, and sleep apnea, which are also important factors that often lead to persistent coughs in Taiwanese people. They indicate that the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract have been chronically inflamed for some time and have become hypersensitive. Whenever they speak or breathe quickly, or when there is a large airflow, they cannot help but cough.

However, many patients with persistent coughs say, "I don't have a stuffy nose during the day, I don't feel acid reflux, and I don't sleep badly at night!" But is that really the case?

Taking gastroesophageal reflux as an example, as long as the stomach acid has not overflowed onto the tongue and burned the esophagus, the patient may not have the typical symptoms of "acid reflux" or "heartburn". However, as long as the stomach acid stimulates the lower esophagus, it will cause a nerve reflex. Half an hour to an hour after eating, there will be a foreign body sensation in the throat, an itchy discomfort, or more nasal discharge and mucus in the nasal cavity, a feeling of postnasal drip, which will make people start to cough.

This is an excerpt. For the full text, please visit:Good Doctor Health Network