What is the significance of different cough types?
Characteristic s of cough | Potential significance |
Productive | Chronic bronchitis, lower respiratory tract infection, bronchiectasis or cancer. |
Dry | Infection (upper or lower respiratory tract), asthma (see Evidence Box 2) (particularly nocturnal), gastro-oesophageal reflux disease, post-nasal drip, pulmonary fibrosis, drugs (e.g. ACE-inhibitors) or cancer. |
Bovine | Vocal cord paralysis, potentially secondary to invasion of recurrent laryngeal nerve by lung cancer. |
Wheezy | Airflow limitation, e.g. asthma (see Evidence Box 2). |
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