Chronic cough is a persistent cough that lasts for at least eight weeks, and often much longer. Although cough is a common symptom of many lung diseases, chronic cough can’t always be linked to another disease or condition and it often doesn’t respond to treatment. If you have chronic cough it can feel like a burden on your daily life, with lack of sleep, mental and physical exhaustion and social stigma impacting your quality of life.
There are two types of chronic cough:
- “Symptomatic” chronic cough is caused by an underlying disease and can be treated once the disease is diagnosed.
- “Refractory” chronic cough is a cough that persists despite guideline based treatment.
Terms to Describe Chronic Cough
- Chronic: This means long term. When diagnosing cough, there are three lengths:
- “Acute cough” is one that lasts less than three weeks
- “Subacute cough” is one that lasts three to eight weeks
- “Chronic cough” lasts longer than eight weeks
- Refractory: This means the cough hasn’t been controlled after multiple testing and specific treatments as well as having tried various over-the-counter treatments from your healthcare provider.
What Causes Chronic Cough?
Some common causes of chronic cough include:
- Lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma or pulmonary fibrosis.
- Allergies, sinus problems and digestive issues (such as gastroesophageal reflux or GERD)
- Medications
- Smoking
Often when the cause of the cough has been identified, it can be successfully treated. But sometimes a chronic cough persists, either because treating the underlying cause is not effective or because your healthcare provider is unable to discover what is causing your continued coughing.
