How to Diagnose Diseases from Cough Symptoms and Effective Treatment Methods

How to Diagnose Diseases from Cough Symptoms and Effective Treatment MethodsCoughing is a common symptom of many illnesses; some even feel they haven't truly fallen ill without a few coughs. However, behind each "cough" lies different disease information

How to Diagnose Diseases from Cough Symptoms and Effective Treatment Methods

Coughing is a common symptom of many illnesses; some even feel they haven't truly fallen ill without a few coughs. However, behind each "cough" lies different disease information. This article will detail how to diagnose illnesses through coughing and explore effective treatment methods.

Coughing is one of the most common symptoms of respiratory diseases. It's caused by inflammation, foreign objects, or physical and chemical irritation of the tracheal, bronchial mucosa, or pleura. Further, coughing is a self-protective mechanism, helping to clear foreign objects and secretions from the respiratory tract. However, persistent coughing can transition from acute to chronic, potentially leading to chest tightness, throat itching, and shortness of breath.

From a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) perspective, coughing itself can be considered a disease, primarily categorized into external pathogenic (exogenous) coughs and internal injury (endogenous) coughs.

External Pathogenic Coughs are caused by external pathogens. Common types include:

1. Wind-Cold Cough: Manifested by nasal congestion, clear runny nose, chills, and thin white phlegm. Patients usually fear cold, have a mild cough, and produce thin, white phlegm.

2. Wind-Heat Cough: Manifested by sore throat, yellow sticky nasal discharge, thick yellow phlegm, and easy thirst. Patients often experience sore throat, fever, and produce thick, yellow phlegm.

3. Wind-Dry Cough: Manifested by dry cough without phlegm or with small amounts of sticky phlegm, and dry mouth and nose. Patients experience severe coughing with little or no phlegm, accompanied by dry mouth and nose. This type of cough is common during dry seasons.

Internal Injury Coughs stem from emotional imbalance, dietary indiscretion, or prolonged illness leading to lung deficiency, causing the lungs to lose their descending function and triggering a cough. Main types include:

1. Phlegm-Damp Cough: Manifested by chest tightness, no thirst, and copious thin white phlegm. Patients feel chest oppression, difficulty breathing, and produce a large amount of thin phlegm.

2. Phlegm-Heat Cough: Manifested by chest fullness or even pain, flushed face, dry heat, thirst, and copious thick yellow phlegm. Patients experience chest fullness or pain, along with a flushed face, thirst, fever, and produce thick, yellow phlegm.

3. Liver-Fire Cough: This cough is closely related to emotions, often worsening with anger. Symptoms include chest and flank distension and pain, flushed face, irritability, bitter taste in the mouth, sticky phlegm, and in severe cases, hemoptysis (coughing up blood).

4. Yin Deficiency Cough: Manifested by afternoon fever, night sweats, hot palms and soles, dry mouth and throat, and dry cough with little or no phlegm. Patients often feel dry heat, sweat easily, have hot palms and soles, dry mouth and throat, and cough with little or no phlegm.

Reasons for Persistent Coughs during Seasonal Changes

During seasonal transitions, large temperature differences between day and night make it difficult to completely avoid the invasion of pathogens, especially for children. Children have weaker immunity and easily contract wind-cold or wind-heat pathogens, leading to coughs. Even if symptoms improve, they can worsen with further pathogen exposure. Additionally, due to growth and development or illness, children's spleen and stomach functions are relatively weak, causing phlegm production to exceed the rate of elimination, leading to phlegm accumulation in the throat. Childrens inability to effectively expel phlegm makes coughs difficult to cure. Therefore, children experience recurrent seasonal coughs more easily than adults. If the underlying cause isn't addressed early, coughs easily transition from acute to chronic, becoming harder to cure and potentially damaging lung function.

Effective Methods for Treating Coughs

Timely treatment is crucial in preventing coughs from becoming chronic. In TCM, besides using targeted herbal remedies for overall conditioning, auxiliary treatments such as acupoint application, moxibustion, auricular therapy, and herbal foot baths can be employed. For children, pediatric Tui Na (massage) can also be used.

The following are some internal prescriptions developed by Bao'an Chinese Medicine Hospital (Group) for different cough symptoms:

1. Sang Xing Xue Li Gao (Mulberry, Apricot, and Pear Paste): Main ingredients include mulberry leaves, apricot kernel, Fritillaria thunbergii, and lily, possessing clearing the lung, moisturizing dryness, and resolving phlegm and stopping cough effects.

2. Xiao Er Zhi Ke Gao (Children's Cough Paste): Main ingredients include Stemona sessilifolia, fried Perilla frutescens, Tussilago farfara, and Schisandra chinensis, possessing warming the lung and dispelling cold, and regulating Qi and resolving phlegm effects; suitable for children with coughs, persistent coughs, whooping cough, chronic pharyngitis, allergic rhinitis, and those recovering from pneumonia.

3. Sai Mei Wu Zang Yang Sheng Gao Yi Fei (Sai Mei Five Viscera Nourishing Paste Benefitting the Lungs): Main ingredients include Saposhnikovia divaricata, yam, Astragalus membranaceus, and Ligusticum chuanxiong, possessing invigorating Qi and consolidating the exterior, and nourishing earth to generate metal effects; suitable for people with coughs, lung phlegm, and spontaneous perspiration caused by phlegm-dampness accumulation in the lungs.

4. Hua Tan Zhi Ke Fang (Phlegm Resolution and Cough Suppression Formula): Main ingredients include Stemona sessilifolia, Aster tataricus, Cynanchum atratum, and Platycodon grandiflorum, possessing dispersing wind, clearing the lung, resolving phlegm, and stopping cough effects; suitable for people with coughing and expectoration, cold headache, nasal congestion and rhinorrhea, sore throat itching, aversion to wind, and chills.

5. Wen Jing San Han Mu Zu Fang (Warming the Meridian and Dispersing Cold Foot Bath Formula): Main ingredients include Evodia rutaecarpa, Saposhnikovia divaricata, Notopterygium incisum, and Ligusticum chuanxiong, possessing warming meridians and collaterals, and expelling wind and cold effects.

6. Hua Shi Xing Pi Ke Li (Dampness Transformation and Spleen Awakening Granule): Main ingredients include Pogostemon cablin, Eupatorium fortunei, Gardenia jasminoides, and roasted Atractylodes lancea, possessing transforming dampness, awakening the spleen, and clearing liver and regulating Qi effects; suitable for people with damp-heat accumulation in the spleen, abdominal distension, restlessness at night, and coughing with copious phlegm.

Lifestyle Management Suggestions

Besides medication, lifestyle management is crucial:

• Diet: During illness, maintain a balanced diet, reduce sugary foods (to avoid worsening coughs and increasing phlegm), and avoid raw and cold foods. Refrigerated food should be brought to room temperature before consumption to avoid irritating the throat and spleen and stomach.

• Exercise: Moderate exercise strengthens the body and enhances immunity. Spending time outdoors in the sun helps increase Yang Qi and promote recovery.

• Seek Medical Attention: Seeking timely medical attention allows for early treatment, effectively preventing coughs from becoming chronic and minimizing damage to lung function.

Authors: Jiao Xiaoqiang, Pulmonary Department; Zeng Jing, Pediatric Department; some content sourced from the internet.