Question
My 2-year-old has a cough that only happens during the day and feels like there’s phlegm in the throat. First supplementary question: Could it be due to eating sugar? What medications are effective for treating cough with no side effects?
Answer
Coughing is not an independent disease itself; it is a defensive reaction to clear foreign objects from the respiratory tract. Mild coughing is harmless to the body and can be treated by removing the cause, without the need for cough suppressants. However, when severe coughing causes pain, cough suppressants can be used judiciously. There are many causes of cough, such as acute and chronic inflammation of the respiratory tract, foreign objects in the respiratory tract, compression of the respiratory tract, allergic reactions, and stimulation of the pleura, etc. Therefore, when a patient has a cough, it is first necessary to fully analyze the condition, identify the cause, and choose appropriate cough suppressants for symptomatic treatment based on treating the cause of the cough. Cough treatments are mainly divided into three categories: cough suppressants, expectorants, and bronchodilators. Cough suppressants include codeine, morphine, cough syrup, coughmeffin, and glycyrrhizin preparations. These drugs are effective for mild respiratory tract inflammation and are good for treating stimulating dry coughs. However, some of these anesthetic drugs must be used under medical guidance. Expectorants include myrtle oil, ammonium chloride, potassium iodide, phlegm cleaner, full mountain red, and small cough syrup. These drugs are effective for clearing out excessive phlegm and thick mucus from the respiratory tract. Bronchodilators include ephedrine alkaloids, Theophylline (Salbutamol), aminophylline, and vitamin K1. Asthma is often caused by allergic reactions or inflammation that stimulate bronchial smooth muscle spasm. The pharmacological action of bronchodilators is mainly to relieve bronchial smooth muscle spasm, which is conducive to phlegm excretion,