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.