Most Natural Cough Treatment

Man Coughing With Medical Drug Treatment This most natural cough treatment therapy has been tested on thousands of people with respiratory disorders, mostly asthma. It is probably the only treatment program for cough problems that has clear understanding of the cause of chronic cough and physiological effects and mechanism of persistent coughing. As a part of this medical treatment, there is a simple breathing exercise that has a powerful immediate therapeutic effect in many situations, including whooping cough (or wet cough), dry cough (or chesty cough), coughing at night, coughing in children and many others. The links to this and other exercises are provided at the bottom of this page.

Persistent or chronic cough results in overbreathing. Tens of medical studies proved that people with asthma, COPD, bronchitis, and many other "coughers" breathe about 2-3 times more than the medical norm (see the links to these studies below).

Medical people and patients with cough What are the effects? Among the known effects of chronic hyperventilation and hypocapnia (see CO2 links in resources), in relation to cough, are:
- overstimulation or irritable state of cough receptors in the tracheobronchial tree and larynx due to hypocapnia (low CO2)
- constriction of airways due to hypocapnia
- mechanical irritation of the constricted airways due to large movements of air during coughing
- chronic respiratory infections and inflammation due to suppression of the immune system caused by cell hypoxia and other effects caused by hyperventilation
- low oxygen content in mitochondria of cilia cells that prevent normal removal of mucus and other debris out of the lungs and airways (not only humans, cilia cells also experience chronic fatigue due to low O2 content causing their inability to beat in unison and remove mucus and pathogens).

Woman coughing If you retrain your breathing pattern so that you have 25 or more seconds for the body oxygen test, your chronic problems with coughing (including wet or whooping cough, chest or dry cough, coughing at night, etc.) will disappear completely (provided that you avoid triggers of your allergies).

Related web pages
Get Rid of Cough - The main breathing exercise that is used during bouts of coughing to stop them and reduce the damage caused by coughing to airways, lungs, and all body cells
How to Stop Coughing At Night - A breathing technique and exercise to reduce duration and severity of night coughing. A similar exercise is used for insomnia problems.
The Cause of Cough - A general overview of the physiological mechanism that makes coughing chronic or persistent.

Reference Web Pages: Breathing norms, Medical Graphs and Tables about Breathing Rates (Minute Ventilation) and Body Oxygen in Healthy, Normal and Sick People
Breathing norms Parameters, graph, and description of the normal breathing pattern
6 breathing myths 6 myths about breathing and body oxygenation (prevalence: over 90%)
Hyperventilation Definitions of hyperventilation: their advantages and weak points
Hyperventilation Syndrome in the Sick. Table 1. Western scientific evidence about prevalence of CHV (chronic hyperventilation) in patients with various chronic conditions (34 medical studies)
Normal Minute Ventilation in Healthy Subjects: Easy and Light Breathing (14 Studies)
Hyperventilation Prevalence Present in Over 90% of Normal People (24 medical publications)
HV and hypoxia How and why deep breathing reduces oxygenation of cells and tissues of all vital organs
Body oxygen test How to measure your own breathing and body oxygenation (a simple DIY test)
Body oxygen in healthy Table 4. CP (body oxygen level) in healthy people (27 medical studies)
Body oxygen in sick Table 5. CP (body oxygen level) in sick people (14 medical studies)
Buteyko Table of Health Zones with clinical description of most common zones
Morning HV Morning hyperventilation effect or how and why critically ill people are most likely to die during early morning hours

References: CO2 Effects Web Pages
Vasodilation: CO2 expands arteries and arterioles facilitating perfusion (or blood supply) to all vital organs
The Bohr effect How and why oxygen is released by red blood cells in tissues
Cell Oxygen Levels and oxygen transport are controlled by alveolar CO2 and breathing
Oxygen Transport depends on breathing and these two effects (Vasoconstriction-Vasodilation and the Bohr effect) are parts of two diagrams that summarize influences of hypocapnia (low CO2 content in the blood and cells) on circulation and O2 delivery
Free Radical Generation takes place due to anaerobic cell respiration caused by cell hypoxia. Hence, antioxidant defenses of the human body are also regulated by CO2 and breathing
Inflammatory Response is controlled by breathing since hypoxia leads to or intensifies chronic inflammation through over-expression of the hypoxia-inducible factor 1, while normal breathing reduces these processes
Nerve stabilization takes place due to calmative or sedative effects of carbon dioxide in neurons or nerve cells
Muscle relaxation or relaxation of muscle cells is normal at high CO2, while hypocapnia causes muscular tension, poor posture and, sometimes, aggression and violence
Brochodilation - dilation of airways (bronchi and bronchioles) by carbon dioxide, and their constriction due to hypocapnia
CO2: Best Natural Cough Suppressant and "home remedy" since it calms urge-to-cough nerve receptors located in the tracheobronchial tree and larynx
Blood pH regulation and regulation of other bodily fluids
CO2: Lung Damage Healer: Elevated carbon dioxide prevents injury and promotes healing of lung tissues
CO2: Skin and Tissue Healer
Synthesis of Glutamine in the Brain, CO2 fixation, and other chemical reactions
CO2 myth "CO2 is a toxic waste gas" myth
Breathing control How is our breathing regulated? Why hypocapnia makes breathing uneven and erratic?

References

J Assoc Physicians India. 2000 Mar; vol 48(no. 3): p. 343-345.
The role of cough and hyperventilation in perpetuating airway inflammation in asthma.
Singh V, Chowdhary R, Chowdhary N.
Department of Pulmonary Medicine, SMS Medical College, Jaipur-302 016, India.
Air flowing through a pipe exerts frictional stress on the walls of the pipe. Frictional stress of more than 40 N/m2 (velocity equivalent of air 113 m/s) is known to cause acute endothelial damage in blood vessels. The frictional stress in airways during coughing may be much greater, however, since the velocity of air may be as high as speed of sound in air. We suggest that high levels of frictional stress perpetuate airway inflammation in airways which are already inflamed and vulnerable to frictional stress-induced trauma in patients with asthma. Activities associated with rapid ventilation and higher frictional stress (e.g. exercise, hyperventilation, coughing, sneezing and laughing) cause asthma to worsen whilst activities that reduce frictional stress (Yoga 'Pranayama', breathing a helium-oxygen mixture and nasal continuous positive airway pressure) are beneficial. Therefore control of cough may have anti-inflammatory benefits in patients with asthma.

Respir Physiol Neurobiol. 2007 Jun 15; 156(3): p. 331-339.
Cough and ventilatory adjustments evoked by aerosolised capsaicin and distilled water (fog) in man.
Lavorini F, Pantaleo T, Geri P, Mutolo D, Pistolesi M, Fontana GA.
Dipartimento di Area Critica Medico Chirurgica, Unità Funzionale di Medicina Respiratoria, Università di Firenze, Viale G.B. Morgagni 85, 50134 Firenze, Italy.
Airway receptors mediate cough and ventilatory adjustments. Simultaneous assessment of cough sensory-motor components and changes in breathing pattern may provide insights into the receptors prevailingly stimulated by inhaled irritants. Nineteen subjects inhaled capsaicin and fog up to threshold concentrations for cough. Cough intensity, respiratory sensations and changes in breathing pattern induced by the two irritants were compared. Capsaicin and fog cough threshold values did not correlate. Coughing induced by both agents was preceded by qualitatively similar sensations and by significant increases in minute ventilation and respiratory drive due to selective increases in tidal volume (P<0.01). Cough intensity was similar with both agents. Cough frequency and the intensity of the urge to cough were higher with capsaicin (P<0.01). The lack of correlation between fog and capsaicin cough threshold values suggests differences in the neural mechanisms activated. The selective increase in tidal volume suggests prevailing involvement of rapidly adapting receptors. The stronger sensations evoked by capsaicin may contribute to the higher cough frequency observed with this agent.

Monaldi Arch Chest Dis. 1999 Jun;54(3):275-9.
Advances in understanding and treatment of cough.
Widdicombe JG.
Sherrington School of Physiology, St. Thomas' Hospital Campus (UMDS), London, UK.
Many different conditions and diseases cause cough. The commonest acute causes are pollution, including cigarette smoke, and upper respiratory tract infection. The commonest chronic causes are postnasal drip, asthma, chronic bronchitis and gastro-oesophageal reflux. Epidemiological studies give widely different patterns of incidence. The different conditions that cause cough have in common the fact that the cough is mediated via the vagus nerves, with sensory receptors in and under the epithelium from the larynx down to the smaller bronchi. These receptors are polymodal, responding to a large variety of stimuli, including mechanical and chemical irritants, inflammatory mediators, intraluminal material and large volume changes of the lungs. With irritation and inflammation, C fibre receptors release neurokinins such as substance P, which in turn stimulate cough receptors. The central nervous pathways for the cough reflex are poorly understood. They can be activated or inhibited voluntarily. Studies on the pharmacology of the central nervous pathways of coughing are opening up new therapeutic possibilities. Other new therapies include drugs acting on the sensory receptors for cough, thereby avoiding adverse central nervous effects.

Pulm Pharmacol Ther. 2007;20(4):416-22.
The problem of cough and development of novel antitussives.
Barnes PJ.
Department of Thoracic Medicine, National Heart and Lung Institute, Dovehouse Street, London SW3 6LY, UK. p.j.barnes@imperial.ac.uk
Cough is a very common clinical symptom and current therapies are largely ineffective, indicating a major unmet medial need. There is a pressing need to develop novel and safe antitussive therapies. This is likely to arise from better understanding of the sensory nerves involved in cough and the signalling pathways that are activated. A major therapeutic target should be sensitization of the cough reflex which is a feature of patients with both acute (virally induced) cough and chronic cough, including chronic idiopathic cough. Studies on human cough mechanisms are limited. There are several novel therapeutic approaches that are currently being explored. Perhaps the most promising drugs are transient receptor potential vanilloid-1 (TRPV(1)) antagonists, selective cannabinoid agonists (CB2 agonists), maxi-K channel openers and P2X3 antagonists. New cough therapies may target airway nerve sensitization and may best be delivered as inhalers to minimize any systemic effects. Understanding the intercellular signalling pathways involved in nociception may lead to novel drugs, such as p38 mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase inhibitors, being used in the treatment of cough in the future. It is also likely that several novel treatments that are developed as analgesics will also prove to be beneficial in the treatment of cough.

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