Chronic dry cough - Coughing is classified as chronic if it lasts more than eight weeks. Air pollution and smoking are common causes of coughing. If the patient is a non-smoker and has chest x-ray that is normal, three of the most common causes of chronic cough are gastroesophageal reflux disease, asthma, and post-nasal drip. Asthma patients usually do most of their coughing at night, though.
Some other causes of chronic cough may be heart failure, chronic bronchitis, and medications such as ACE inhibitors. Of course, smoking can be a cause of chronic coughing, too.
There are a number of people who have chronic dry cough who are simply more sensitive to the coughing reflex than others, too.
Eosinophilic bronchitis is a condition where the patient exhibits many of the features of asthma, which may include cells called eosinophils that are found in the sputum. However, it does not display the abnormal lung function that is typical of asthmatic disease. This condition seems to be increasingly recognized as one of the main causes of chronic, dry cough in adults especially in patients that have no other causes of illness.
This condition can be difficult to treat, especially if no connection to other issues is found.
