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Definition

By Mayo Clinic staff

A cough is your body's way of responding to irritants in your throat and airways. An irritant stimulates nerves in your respiratory tract, sending the cough impulse to your brain, which signals the muscles of your abdomen and diaphragm to give a strong push of air to your lungs to try to expel the irritant.

Everyone coughs sometimes, but a cough that persists for several weeks or one that brings up discolored or bloody mucus may indicate an underlying condition that requires medical attention. A cough rarely requires emergency care.

Causes
References
  1. Cough. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. National Institutes of Health. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/cough/cough_all.html. Accessed July 1, 2010.
  2. Information for patients complaining of cough. American College of Chest Physicians. http://accpstorage.org/newOrganization/patients/cough/adult.pdf. Accessed July 1, 2010.
  3. Cough symptoms chart. American Academy of Family Physicians. http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/tools/symptom/516.html. Accessed July 1, 2010.
  4. Seller RH. Cough. In: Seller RH. Differential Diagnosis of Common Complaints. 5th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007:93.
  5. Moreno MA. Advice for parents: Bronchiolitis and Respiratory Syncytial Virus. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. 2009;163:1072.
  6. Bronchiolitis and your child. American Academy of Family Physicians. http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/children/parents/common/common/020.html. Accessed July 1, 2010.
  7. Patient information for parents of a child with cough. American College of Chest Physicians. http://accpstorage.org/newOrganization/patients/cough/pediatric.pdf. Accessed July 1, 2010.
  8. Rosenow EC (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. July 6, 2010.
MY00108 Sept. 3, 2010

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