title: Pharmacotherapy of chronic cough in adults.
abstract: Chronic cough is a debilitating symptom for which patients commonly seek medical attention. Among adult non-smokers who are not taking an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and have a normal or near normal chest radiograph, postnasal drip syndrome caused by a variety of rhinosinus conditions, asthma and non-asthmatic eosinophilic bronchitis and gastro-oesophageal reflux disease singly or in combination, are the most common diagnoses underlying chronic cough. Pharmacotherapy for chronic cough can be either specific or non-specific. Specific therapy is preferable and the most effective as it is directed at the aetiologies and pathophysiological mechanisms responsible for cough. In contrast, non-specific therapy is used only in limited clinical settings, as it is directed at the symptom rather than underlying aetiologies and aims only to control, rather than eliminate cough.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA 01605-2324, USA. Mark.Madison@umassmed.edu
authors.forename: J Mark
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Madison
authors.forename: Richard S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Irwin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001249:Asthma / Q000150:complications; D001993:Bronchodilator Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003371:Cough / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005764:Gastroesophageal Reflux / Q000150:complications; D006634:Histamine H1 Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D014663:Nasal Decongestants / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D001993:Bronchodilator Agents; D006634:Histamine H1 Antagonists; D014663:Nasal Decongestants