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HowToPreventHeartDisease.com |
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Chronic Coughing Can Be A Sign Of Heart Failure! Supposed to be a protective action, coughing actually helps the body get rid of substances that do not belong in the lungs and windpipe, like inhaled dirt or food, and things that are irritating to the air passages. It can be done deliberately or as part of a reflex. While coughing will often clear up on its own without need for medical attention, it can actually be a sign of a serious illness. A cough can be acute (short-term) that lasts less than 3 weeks, or chronic (long-term) which lasts more than 8 weeks. The most common cause of coughing is a respiratory tract infection, like a cold or flu. Respiratory tract infections are usually caused by a virus and may last from a few days to a week. Infections caused by the flu may take slightly longer to clear up and may sometimes require antibiotics. Hay fever, smoking, asthma (more often in children), gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and certain medications, such as Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors are some examples that can cause chronic cough. Hay fever, also known as allergic rhinitis, is a type of inflammation in the nose which occurs when the immune system overreacts to allergens in the air. GERD is condition in which stomach contents flow back into the esophagus, and stimulates a reflex in the trachea, causing the person to cough. Other less common causes of chronic cough in adults include TB (tuberculosis), fungal infections of the lung, and lung cancer.
Nevertheless, a cough may be an important sign
that heart failure treatment is adequate or even that the treatment may be
causing problems. Heart failure simply means that the heart's pumping function
has been impaired in such a way that the heart can no longer keep up all the
demands of the body. It can result from a variety of cardiac disorders,
including coronary artery disease (CAD), hypertension, hypertrophic
cardiomyopathy, diastolic dysfunction, and heart valve disease.
Due to the heart's inefficient pumping ability, blood returning to the heart from the lungs tends to back up, producing pulmonary congestion. Fluid and even a little blood can leak into the alveoli (air sacs) of the lungs causing one to cough. This type of cough is referred to as cardiac cough or heart cough, which is accompanied by disorders in the cardiovascular system. Cardiac cough can take several forms. A wet cough producing frothy sputum that may be tinged pink with blood is quite common with heart failure. People with such coughing may also have heavy wheezing, labored breathing and a bubbling feeling in the chest or even a whistling sound from the lungs. This is a sign that the heart failure has become substantially worse and such coughing is usually accompanied by a general flare-up of heart failure symptoms. They may include shortness of breath, orthopnea (shortness of breath that occurs when lying flat, causing the person to have to sleep propped up in bed or sitting in a chair), edema (swelling caused by excess fluid trapped in the body's tissues.), and even paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea (waking up in from sleep in the middle of the night, gasping, and coughing). People who have this severe form of cardiac cough will generally seek medical help without much prompting. But cardiac cough can also take a much less severe form. Some people with heart failure can have an annoying, more chronic, drier cough that might produce a small amount of white or pink frothy mucus. Unfortunately, some of these people may attribute these symptoms to other causes and fail to seek immediate medical assistance. If they delay seeing a doctor, the symptoms of heart failure are likely to become substantially worse. Remember this, cardiac cough is an important sign that heart failure is worsening. In most cases, this symptom will respond to an adjustment in heart failure therapy, and hence people with heart failure should never ignore the onset of coughing.
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