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Palliative cancer care - cough - Background information
What is the purpose and mechanism of cough?
- Cough is a defensive reflex that occurs in response to stimulation of irritant receptors which are found in the airways (but not beyond the terminal bronchioles).
- Cough has two functions: to prevent foreign material entering the lower respiratory tract, and to clear secretions from the lungs and airways.
- Receptors respond to mechanical (e.g. foreign body, mucus) and chemical (e.g. smoke, noxious gases) stimuli, and inflammatory and immunological mediators.
- Stimulation of the receptors can cause cough, bronchoconstriction, or mucus secretion, depending on which receptors are stimulated.
[Twycross and Wilcock, 2001; Warrell et al, 2003; Doyle et al, 2004; Estfan and LeGrand, 2004]
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