title: [Differential diagnosis and treatment of chronic cough].
abstract: Postnasal drip, asthma and gastroesophageal reflux disease are the underlying causes in almost 90% of cases with chronic cough. Causal treatment is successful in the majority of patients, although in the event of a long-standing cough, it might need to be continued over several weeks. Smoking complicates the identification of cough as a clinical early symptom of an underlying tumor. Cardiac causes are rare, and in most cases are due to the use of ACE-inhibitors. Cough may be triggered by a variety of causes and the therapeutic palette must include several spectra. Since the individual causes often cannot be unequivocally identified, it may be necessary to take a polypragmatic therapeutic approach targeting the three most common causes simultaneously for 7-10 days.
authors.affiliation: Innere Medizin II, Kreiskrankenhaus Bad Reichenhall. rw.hauck@bglmed.de
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Hauck
mesh_terms: D000806:Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001249:Asthma / Q000175:diagnosis; D002908:Chronic Disease; D002925:Ciliary Motility Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D003371:Cough / Q000209:etiology*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005764:Gastroesophageal Reflux / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D000806:Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors