Cough

Cough. A cough consists of a preparatory inspiration, followed by a violent expiratory effort, during which the glottis at first closed is suddenly burst open by the imprisoned air, with the result that a certain noise is produced. Coughing may be due to the irritation caused by the lodgment of foreign bodies in the air passages, or to diseased conditions of the lungs, trachea, larynx, fauces, and, it is said, of the ear and stomach. These last-named parts of the body are supplied by the pneumogastric nerve, other branches of which are distributed to the lungs; and hence it is argued that an "ear cough" and a "stomach cough" furnish examples of irritation applied to one branch of a nerve being "referred" to another branch. The treatment of coughing depends upon the condition to which it is due, and will be discussed under the heads of the different diseases in which cough is a prominent symptom.