A cough is a symptom, not a disease in and of itself, that’s often indicative of an underlying condition. A cough can accompany a common cold, for instance, or be due to allergies, lung disease, or even gastrointestinal troubles.
Although the causes are varied, the reason you cough is to help your body get rid of foreign material or mucus from your lungs and upper airway passages. It’s one of your body’s protective mechanisms designed to keep you breathing easy. Sometimes, it’s easy to determine why you’re coughing but it can also be a mystery.
By paying attention to the details – the sound of your cough, for instance, along with accompanying symptoms – you can often identify the cause, which is important for getting on the road to recovery. Following are seven common reasons for a cough, and what to do about them.
7 Common Reasons for Coughs
