Cough

A sudden, forceful expulsion of air from the lungs that clears the airways or responds to irritation.

Cough reflex: A protective neural reflex that triggers forceful expiration after stimulation of sensory nerves in the airways. It links airway irritation to the coordinated muscle action that produces a cough.
Acute cough: A cough lasting less than three weeks, commonly associated with respiratory infections or short-lived irritants. This duration category frames many short-lived coughs encountered in clinical care.
Respiratory system: The organs and structures that exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide between the body and its environment. Cough is a defensive action of this broader system.
Airway protection: The processes that keep food, fluids, secretions, and foreign material from entering or remaining in the lower airways. Cough is one rapid defense within this larger protective system.
Vagus nerve: A cranial nerve carrying sensory and motor signals between the brainstem and organs including the lungs. Sensory signals from airway irritants travel centrally through branches of this nerve.
Chronic cough: A cough lasting more than eight weeks in adults, often requiring evaluation for persistent causes. Its prolonged duration shifts attention from transient irritation to ongoing disease or exposure.
Airway: The passages that conduct air between the outside environment and the lungs. These passages are the sites where irritants are sensed and material is cleared.
Cough syncope: A brief loss of consciousness caused by coughing, often through reduced blood return to the heart and brain. Forceful coughing can transiently disrupt circulation enough to cause fainting.
Medulla oblongata: The lower part of the brainstem that regulates vital functions and coordinates several protective reflexes. Brainstem circuits here coordinate the breathing muscles during a cough.
Productive cough: A cough that brings mucus or other material up from the respiratory tract. The presence and character of sputum can help guide assessment of airway illness.

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