Translating Cough Mechanisms Into Better Cough Suppressants

摘要

Cough is a normal physiological response to airway irritation, serving a fundamental role in airway protection and the maintenance of airway patency. It can occur voluntarily or in response to an airway irritation and can be both reflexive and nonreflexive (behavioral) in nature. Although coughing itself reflects a coordinated effort of the respiratory muscles, the underlying control mechanisms are dependent on complex neurophysiological events. The neural pathways that control coughing have been the subject of intense investigation in recent years, and much is now known about how voluntary and evoked cough are generated.