Why do we cough?

Question

whats the importance of coughing and why does our body feel like doing it at specific times? is it good to suppress a cough?

Answer 1

Why do we cough?
Coughs are your body's way of clearing dust and other obnoxious (in the strictest sense) things out of your windpipe and lungs.

When your body senses that there is something in your airway that shouldn't be there, you automatically take a deep breath, close your windpipe at the "glottis" (the top of the windpipe at the back of your throat) momentarily, push air against the closed glottis with your lung muscles to build up extra pressure, and then open your glottis. When the glottis opens, the high-pressure air comes out explosively, and the explosion helps force the extraneous matter out of your airways. You can also cough whenever you want to, whether to clear your throat or for other reasons.

Although you can almost always cough when you want to, the "automatic" cough reflex is an important defense against smoke, mis-swallowed food, nasal mucus, and other things that might accidentally enter your airway. Without the cough reflex you are much more likely to develop infections or allow chemical irritation to damage your airways and lung tissue.

Sometimes you cough because of irritation to the airways with secretions -- either from inhaled irritants such as smoke and some chemicals, or infections of the upper airways. In particular, some viruses and bacteria can attack the larynx (voice box) and/or the glottis. A common example is croup, which happens when a virus attacks the larynx and windpipe. Typically a child with croup has a "barking" cough that sounds like a seal, with noise ("stridor") on inhaling. Croup usually can be treated with steam or with cool, moist air; rarely we need medicines to reduce the swelling in the larynx. Fluid in the lungs -- pneumonia -- will also cause coughing, but this is much rarer, and there are other symptoms as well. Another reason for coughing is irritation in the small airways, or bronchiolitis, or in the large airways -- bronchitis. Both bacteria and viruses can cause this kind of irritation. One particular virus that appears every winter is respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which can also cause pneumonia as well as bronchiolitis. Asthma can also cause coughing, since the basic problem in asthma is inflammation of the airways.

Answer 2

Coughing is a reflex of the body to expel something from the throat or respiratory tract either because it is going down the wrong tube, the esophagus or because it is an irritant. It is a reflex action. We shouldn't suppress a cough but coughing in any ones face is unforgivable. We should cough into our elbow so we don't spread the germs with our hands. Was them often anyhow.