Pulmonary Medicine

Relief From Cough

Cough, while rarely serious, can be very annoying. Getting relief from a cough—the number one reason that people go to the doctor—can be difficult. Yet, effective treatment is available.

“The key to treating a cough is to identify the cause of the cough and treat the cause,” said pulmonologist Melvin R. Pratter, M.D., Head of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Cooper University Hospital. Dr. Pratter, an expert in cough, is one of the authors of new cough guidelines from the American College of Chest Physicians. He is also Co-Director of The Cancer Institute of New Jersey at Cooper’s Lung Cancer Center and a Professor of Medicine at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

The guidelines help doctors diagnose and manage the three types of cough in adults and children:

Acute cough—the most common type—lasts less than three weeks and is usually from a cold. Acute cough usually goes away without treatment.

Sub-acute cough lasts three to eight weeks. About one third of the time, subacute cough will improve without treatment, but treatment can reduce or eliminate sub-acute cough quickly. Chronic cough lasts more than eight weeks.

Dr. Pratter recommends seeing a doctor when a cough:

• Is associated with symptoms such as chest pain, high fever or shortness of breath
• Lasts more than eight weeks, or
• Interferes with daily life

A (long-lasting) cough is never something you’ve just got to live with,” said Dr. Pratter. Some commonly used treatments for cough don’t work, according to the guidelines. Most over-the-counter cough expectorants and suppressants don’t treat the underlying cause of the cough, and often don’t help relieve the cough. Instead, the guidelines suggest using antihistamines that have a decongestant, which help dry up the cough. Another common treatment for colds—antibiotics—do not relieve most coughs. Treatment tailored to the cause of the cough does work. “No matter how long you’ve been coughing, 90 percent of the time an expert in cough can find the cause of the cough and eliminate or markedly reduce it,” says Dr. Pratter, who is also Head of Cooper’s Chronic Cough Relief Program.

The guidelines also emphasize prevention of whooping cough (pertussis) in adults. Whooping cough is an infection of the respiratory system caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis. People with whooping cough have severe coughing spells that end in a “whooping” sound.

“Whooping cough is a lot more common than is recognized, and is increasing in frequency,” Dr. Pratter says. The guidelines recommend adults aged 65 and younger receive the new adult vaccine for pertussis.

Dr. Pratter was part of an international committee that developed the cough guidelines. Committee members included experts in the fields of adult and pediatric pulmonology and respirology, pharmacology, neurology, speech and swallowing, and anatomy and physiology.

Cooper pulmonologists treat chronic lung diseases such as emphysema and asthma, diseases caused by exposure to toxic substances, sleep disorders, and acute pulmonary problems such as pneumonia, as well as cough.

Other Cooper doctors working with Dr. Pratter include Stephen Akers, M.D., Thaddeus C. Bartter, M.D., Donna J. Hogue, D.O., Maria Lania-Howarth, M.D., Jonathan Kass, M.D., Roy M. Levinson, M.D., Ramya Lotano, M.D., Stuart Mest, M.D., and Vatsala Ramprasad, M.D. All Cooper pulmonologists are board-certified. They also serve on the faculty of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Cooper pulmonologists see adults in Camden, Pennsville, Voorhees, and Willingboro and children in Camden, Voorhees, and Washington Township.

To make an appointment with a Cooper University Hospital physician at an office near you, please contact one of the offices below or call 1-800-8-COOPER (800-826-6737) to speak with a member of our physician referral and information service.