title: Idiopathic cough, prevalence and underlying mechanisms.
abstract: A number of authors have reported a significant percentage of patients whose cause of cough remains undetermined despite a systematic evaluation as recommended in a number of International Guidelines. This subset of patients, which may be regarded as having an idiopathic cough, are often female and of peri or postmenopausal age. Sex hormones may influence the cough reflex in disease or contribute to the chronic lymphocytic airway inflammation seen in some cases and to the association with organ specific autoimmune disease reported. This paper seeks to investigate some of the possible causes of idiopathic cough.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, The Queen's University of Belfast, Grosvenor Road, Belfast BT126BJ, Northern Ireland, UK. l.mcgarvey@qub.ac.uk
authors.forename: L P A
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: McGarvey
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Ing
mesh_terms: D003371:Cough / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation; D008297:Male; D008593:Menopause; D015995:Prevalence; D012137:Respiratory System / Q000473:pathology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors
chemical_list: D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones