Cough is a common symptom, which may be caused by a variety of reasons, including common cold, allergies, respiratory infections, etc., but when the cough is caused by lung cancer, there are some obvious differences between it and common cough.
The nature
of the
cough
-Common cough: The nature of common cough is diverse. If the cough is caused by a cold, it is usually occasional dry cough or accompanied by a small amount of white thin sputum. The degree of cough is relatively mild. It may only be intermittent in the early stage of the disease. With the development of the disease, such as bacterial infection, the sputum may become thick and yellow, but the rhythm of cough is still relatively regular. Cough caused by allergy is often irritating dry cough, which occurs suddenly after exposure to allergens, and tends to ease after leaving the allergic environment, accompanied by nasal itching, eye itching, rash and other allergic symptoms. Cough caused by tracheobronchitis is mostly irritating dry cough in the early stage of inflammation, followed by expectoration, usually white mucus sputum or mucopurulent sputum, which may be aggravated in the morning or at night.
-Lung cancer cough: Cough caused by lung cancer is mostly irritating cough, just like foreign body stimulating trachea, there is no obvious predisposing factor, and this cough is often difficult to control. The cough is more severe and may continue to worsen as the tumor progresses. When the tumor blocks the airway, the cough can be high-pitched and metallic, which is a typical feature of lung cancer cough and is obviously different from ordinary cough.
Duration
of
cough
-Common cough: The duration of a common cough is usually shorter. For example, the cough caused by the common cold usually decreases gradually with the recovery of the cold in about a week until it disappears. Even for severe tracheobronchitis, after reasonable treatment, most of the cough symptoms will be significantly relieved within 2-3 weeks. Allergic cough can also be improved in a short period of time (several days to a week) after avoiding contact with allergens and appropriate anti-allergic treatment.
-Lung cancer cough: Cough caused by lung cancer is progressive and lasts for a long time. If there is no effective treatment for tumors, cough will always exist, and with the growth of tumors, invasion of surrounding tissues and other conditions, cough will become more and more serious. Some lung cancer patients may cough for months or even longer, and conventional cough treatment is not effective.
Accompanying symptoms
-Common cough: The symptoms that accompany a common cough are usually related to the cause. Cough caused by cold is often accompanied by fever, nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat and other symptoms. Bronchitis cough can be accompanied by chest distress, shortness of breath and so on, especially when the cough is severe, but these symptoms will be alleviated after the inflammation is relieved. Allergic cough may be accompanied by allergic manifestations such as red and swollen eyes, tears, itchy skin, and sneezing.
-Lung cancer cough: Lung cancer cough may be accompanied by hemoptysis or blood in sputum in addition to the cough itself. Most of the blood is bright red or dark red, and the amount of blood can be more or less. This is because the tumor tissue is rich in blood supply and fragile in texture, which can easily lead to vascular rupture and bleeding when coughing. In addition, lung cancer patients may also have chest pain, the nature of pain is mostly dull pain or dull pain, when the tumor invades the pleura, chest wall and other tissues, the pain will be aggravated, can be persistent severe pain. With the development of the disease, patients may also have weight loss, fatigue, expiratory dyspnoea and other systemic symptoms, which are rare in common cough.
Response
to treatment
-Common cough: Common cough is usually relieved quickly after treatment for the cause. For example, the symptoms of cold cough will be gradually alleviated after the use of drugs to alleviate cold symptoms and cough expectorants; allergic cough can be effectively controlled after the use of antihistamines, glucocorticoids and other anti-allergic treatment; bronchitis patients will also improve cough in a certain period of time after the use of anti-infection, cough, phlegm and other comprehensive treatment.
-Lung cancer cough: Lung cancer cough responds poorly to conventional cough medications. Common cough syrup and cough tablets may not relieve the cough caused by lung cancer. Only after effective anti-tumor treatment for lung cancer, such as surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, can tumor shrink or be controlled, can cough symptoms be alleviated.
In conclusion, understanding the difference between lung cancer cough and ordinary cough is essential for early detection of lung cancer. If the cough is persistent, abnormal in nature, accompanied by other special symptoms such as hemoptysis, especially those with long-term smoking or family history of lung cancer, they should be highly alert to the possibility of lung cancer and seek further medical examination in time.
Lung cancer
