9/18/2023 0 Comments Cough reflex vs gag reflex nerve![]() ![]() A more worrying statistic is that despite multiple visits to healthcare professionals, only half of patients receive a diagnosis to explain their debilitating symptoms ( Chamberlain et al., 2015). On the other hand, excessive chronic cough causes a major decrement in quality of life and is responsible for a large proportion of health care visits.Ĭhronic Cough (CC) remains one of the most frequent and onerous causes of patient morbidity encountered in healthcare and is estimated to burden 9–12% of the population ( Morice, 2008 Song et al., 2015). Impairment of the cough reflex is associated with aspiration and is a common mode of death in elderly, demented, and neurologically impaired patients. Dysfunction of this reflex may be crudely dichotomized into hypo and hyper-activation. The cough reflex is a vital defense mechanism that allows the body to expel inhaled foreign objects, potential pathogens, and endogenous secretions. ![]() The treatment and prevention of loss of the cough reflex, which has been largely neglected, is also discussed as novel low-cost interventions could help prevent a number of hospital and domiciliary deaths from both acute and chronic aspiration. We detail the physiological and pharmacological mechanisms involved in cough, and how the recent development of P2X3 receptor antagonists may lead to the first pharmaceutical agent licensed for chronic cough. In this review we discuss both hyper- and hypo-activation of the cough reflex and how airway reflux and chronic aspiration may be involved in the aetiology and sequalae of both disease states. In contrast, loss of normal functioning of the cough reflex is the cause of a significant proportion of mortality in the elderly, primarily through the development of aspiration pneumonia. Continual aberrant activation of the cough reflex, also known as chronic cough, can cause great detriment to quality of life and many of these patients are left misdiagnosed and undertreated. Similar to ancient Roman deity Janus, it often presents with one of two opposing “faces”. In clinical practice, we commonly face adversity when encountering dysfunction of the cough reflex.
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