Cough

What is a cough?

Cough is also called kala-raga and tussis. It is a noisy expulsion of air from the lungs.Cough is a highly contagious disease of the respiratory system.Cough mainly affects children and it is caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis .It is also called pertussis.Cough is simply a symptom and not a disease.

The main type of cough are given below:

• Spasmodic cough
• Laryngeal and Pharyngeal Cough
• Nervous Cough.
• Allergic Cough
• Dry cough
• Food induced Cough
• Cough of drunkards, smokers and drug addicts
• Asthmatic Cough
• Senile Cough
• Tubercular Cough
• Kapha, Vata, Pitta induced Cough

What are the symptoms of cough ?

• Running nose

• Sneezing

• Mild cough

• Low-grade fever

Cough(Kasa Raga) is sub-divided into five heads:

• Disorders borne out of vata
• Pitta
• Kapha
• Ill
• Injuries or infections.

The first three types are easily handled, but the latter two categories are a different proposition altogether.

Coughs may usually classify as being either dry or chesty.

A dry cough - Dry coughs are usually felt in the throat as a tickle, which sets off the coughing.It may occurs because the throat and upper airways becomes inflamed, it is non-productive. After about 1 to 2 weeks, the dry, irritating cough evolves into coughing spells.

A chesty cough- may either productive due to extra mucus produced as a response to infection or non-productive due to infection causing the lung passageways to swell.

What are the causes of cough ?

• Congestive heart failure
• Disorders of the upper airways
• Disorders of the pericardium
• Bronchogenic carcinoma
• Interstitial lung disease
• Chronic pulmonary infection
• Cystic fibrosis
• Interstitial lung disease
• Psychogenic disorders
• Bird flu in humans
• Childhood asthma can lead to cough
• Headache
  

Causes of cough may long and highly vary. You may also classify coughs into 2 categories, they are given below

• Acute - an acute cough as one that been present for less than 3 weeks.

• Chronic - chronic coughs are those present for more than 3 weeks. This may cause by breathing in dust particles in the air or when a piece of food goes down the wrong way.
  

Home Remedies For Cough

• 200 mg of Panchamrita Ras with 2 1/2 gm of Chuma of Bahera (vidang) may take three times with honey.

• 120 gm of Chaturashana Churna mix with 120 gm of Eladi may take two times in a day.

• Prepare a linctus prepared from Harad, long pepper, ginger, nut grass (Nagar musta) - all in powder form and mixed with honey may licke three to four times daily

• Prepare a paste from dates, raisins, black pepper, vidanga and long pepper and mixed with equal quantity of honey may take three to four times in a day.

• Eladi Churna or Chaturasana Churna or Yavani Shadava each one (not all) may take according the symptoms noted.