Every year during this season, people wake up to ashy mornings, smoky scents, and sore throats.
Due to air pollution, which has an abnormally high Air Quality Index (AQI) in many areas of Delhi and Mumbai, people’s hearts, lungs, and general well-being have suffered.
Sneezing, coughing, and wheezing—a high-pitched whistling sound produced when breathing—are the most typical signs of a high AQI.
Doctors have reported that the majority of patients in the outpatient department (OPD) have been complaining of persistent coughs, despite the fact that some people have been experiencing severe colds.
When the throat or airways are irritated by any gas or particle matter, a cough is produced.
The scientific basis of coughing
Similar to people, coughs occur in all different forms and sizes. They can be forceful or suppressed, long or short, deep or shallow. Usually, a cough involves taking a deep breath, compressing the air in the lungs, and then releasing the breath quickly and forcefully.
A human cough can propel a two-liter Coke bottle several feet away, expelling around three-quarters of its volume on average. Thousands of microscopic saliva droplets are also released during coughs, some of which travel up to 50 miles per hour.
Coughing is a spontaneous response, which is important to grasp in order to comprehend the science behind it. Coughing is your body’s natural reaction to irritation of the throat and airways caused by things like dust, bacteria, and mucus.
IndiaToday speaks with Dr. Neetu Jain, Consultant Pulmonology of Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at PSRI Hospital.Because of this, even if air pollution is linked to a decline in lung function, particle matter, or PM, must be considered while comprehending the idea of a cough.
By stimulating peripheral nerve receptors in the bronchi, pollutants cause bronchi to form, which results in chronic coughing.
Studies have demonstrated a strong correlation between this illness and PM 2.5, or particles with an aerodynamic diameter of smaller than 2.5 micrometers, according to Dr. Neetu Jain.
The body’s normal reaction to irritation of the throat or airways is to cough. These feelings are brought on by irritants, which excite nerves that communicate with the brain.
Coughing on occasion is a natural and healthy part of the body. On the other hand, a cough that persists for a long time or produces bloody or discolored mucus may be a sign of an underlying medical disease that needs to be treated.
Kinds of coughing
A productive cough—one that produces mucus or phlegm—may be a sign of the flu, pneumonia, or bronchitis. Additional diagnostic hints may be provided by the mucus discharge’s color. If you cough up blood or yellowish-green phlegm, get medical help. A dry or ineffective cough, on the other hand, doesn’t produce mucus.
The least severe type, acute cough, usually goes away on its own in three weeks or less and frequently doesn’t require medical attention.
See a physician, though, if the cough is accompanied by other symptoms like a fever, headache, sleepiness, or shortness of breath.
Coughs that make unusual noises, such as whooping, wheezing, or barking, may indicate more serious problems.
Long-lasting coughs that last longer than eight weeks may be a sign of a long-term lung condition and require more testing.
