Smoker's cough: Symptoms, Causes, and Home Remedies

A smoker’s cough occurs in long-term smokers. Smoker’s cough is an obstinate cough which is present for more than 3 weeks. At the start, the cough may be dry, however, over time smoker’s cough may produce phlegm. The phlegm may be clear, white, yellow, or green. The cough is worst on waking, and improves gradually.

The air passages are lined with cilia which capture inhaled toxins and move them towards the mouth. Smoking paralyzes cilia; hence they fail to do their job optimally. Instead of being caught, the toxins enter the lungs, where they settle and give rise to inflammation.

This inflammation results in coughing as the body tries to get rid of the toxins from the lungs. During the night, cilia start repairing themselves as they are no longer exposed to smoke. As the cilia get rid of the collected toxins, there is increased coughing in the morning. 

Symptoms of Smoker’s Cough

• Chronic persistent cough, worse every morning on rising

• The cough may be dry or productive

• Occasionally, the person may cough up blood

• There will be associated breathlessness

• Some smokers suffer from wheezing

• Hoarseness of the voice

• Unexplained weight loss is another accompanying feature

Causes of Smoker’s cough

Cilia are the tiny hair-like structures along your airways. When smoker’s smoke, the cilia lose some of their ability to push chemicals and other foreign materials out of smoker’s lungs. Because of this, toxins remain in smoker’s lungs for much longer than they normally would. In response, smoker’s body has to cough more to remove the chemicals from smoker’s lungs.

Smoker’s cough can be especially irritating in the morning because cilia regain their ability to remove the chemicals from lungs when smoker has not smoked for a few hours. This can make the cough much more unpleasant when smoker wake up.

A smoker’s cough can also involve postnasal drip. This is when mucus leaks into smoker’s throat. It causes you to cough or clear your throat frequently, and it can make your cough worse.

Home Remedies to get rid of Smoker’s Cough

• Make sure you are well hydrated; drink 3 liters of water daily.
• Water lubricates the throat so that the bruising caused from constantly and persistently coughing will be less painful. Water also keeps the body hydrated, while cigarette smoke dries it out.
• Boost your intake of vitamin C. Step up your consumption of limes, lemons, oranges, guavas, mangoes and bell peppers. Smoking gets rid of vitamin C and calcium in the body. Consume loads of vitamin C rich foods every day to reinstate the lost vitamin C. Smoker’s can also confer with their health care provider and start a vitamin C supplement on a daily basis.
• Honey is an excellent remedy for smokers cough. Have 3 to 5 spoons of honey every day. Smoker could also add generous amounts of honey to their tea. Honey is a lubricant and will cool an inflamed and irritated throat.
• Rinse the mouth with hot saline water several times in a day to clear the phlegm in throat. Smoker could also add a spoon of turmeric to the hot water.
• Fill a pan with water and boil the water. Add a few drops of tea tree essential oil to it. Inhale the vapors, taking deep breaths, whilst you cover your head. This calms cough and releases phlegm. Instead of tea tree oil, smoker can also use caraway seeds. These caraway seeds are very effective too. Make sure smoker follow this ritual every night before he goes to bed.
• Boil mint leaves and ginger in water. Inhale the vapors as well as drink up the mixture, 3 to 4 times daily. It will yield quick and wonderful results.
• Garlic is an excellent home treatment for smoker’s cough. Cut 2 flakes of garlic and add it to some milk. Boil the mixture for about 15 minutes. Strain and drink this blend at least 5 times every day.

These natural remedies are beneficial and will help in easing smoker’s cough; nonetheless, for complete and permanent cure, smoker needs to quit smoking. Try these remedies for about a fortnight and if there’s no betterment, go for doctor’s opinion. 

Natural Remedies for the Treatment of Runny Nose

Increase in the levels of air-pollution has given birth to various triggers that cause runny nose. Runny nose occurs when there is an excessive accumulation of mucus in the nasal and sinus passage. Exposure to common cold, an allergic reaction, extreme cold and hot weather can also trigger the runny nose. Many medicines are taken to treat the runny nose, but these medicines have side effects such as drowsiness. Moreover, medicines do not give you a long-term relief; it just dries the excessive mucus, which is not healthy for the body, as mucus should come out of the body. Using natural remedies can give you instant relief without any side effects. 

Here are some effective natural methods that can help in the treatment of running nose

1. Garlic 

• The antibacterial and antiseptic properties of garlic have the potential to cure numerous problems like respiratory infections, cough, cold, sore throat.  
• Allicin, which is the prime ingredient in garlic, plays the vital role in killing the unfavorable bacteria inside your body and prevents running nose.
• You can swallow a piece of raw garlic empty stomach and drink water. You can also use garlic paste in your daily food or drink garlic soup daily. 

2. Steam

• Steam opens the nasal passages blocked due to overflow mucus and provides relief from the irritation due to runny nose. 
• Fill a bowl with boiling water, cover your head with a towel and bend down little to allow the steam to enter your nose properly.   
• Steam can ease the several symptoms of allergy. It revives the proper flow of breathing and settles the infuriation due to sinus.

3. Ginger

• Ginger is loaded with antioxidants, antiviral, and antifungal properties, which are very effective in the treatment of the runny nose.
• You can eat small pieces of a raw ginger, or make a ginger tea. Ginger can be, also taken with honey to get better results. 
• The antitoxic ability of ginger kills all the bacteria and other harmful toxins in your nose and lungs. 

4. Turmeric

• The antioxidant properties of turmeric increase the flow of oxygen in the blood and anti-inflammatory properties of the turmeric reduce the inflammation caused due to excessive runny of the nose. 
• Mix a pinch of turmeric in a glass of warm milk and drink it every night to neutralize the triggers that causes the runny nose.
• Turmeric is not only effective in treating the runny nose, but it can also give you relief from the other symptoms of cold, cough, and chest infections.

5. Honey

• Honey contains strong anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, and antimicrobial properties, which gives you an instant relief from the symptoms of running nose.  
• Honey also contains hydrogen peroxide, osmotic effect, and has high sugar concentration, which fights infection at multiple levels. 
• To increase the strength of your immune system, mix one tablespoon of honey in warm water. Drink this empty stomach or just after waking up.

Pneumonia Prevention - Immunization with Pneumonia Vaccine

The word 'pneumonia' is linked to any of the infections that affect the lungs. The vaccine is used as a preventive measure against a particular type of pneumonia caused by the pneumococcus bacterium called Streptococcus pneumoniae.

It is estimated that more than 6,000 deaths that occur each year are due to pneumococcus infections, which is considered to be the highest number for any disease that can be prevented by a vaccine. Apart from affecting the lungs, this disease also infects the blood and is one of the leading causes of bacterial meningitis that is responsible for a high number of fatalities associated with the disease. Typically, pneumonia is spread by coughing, sneezing, or any other way by which a contact is made with the respiratory output of an infected person. Hence, one of the best ways to prevent the transmission of the disease is to wash your hands often if you are in proximity with anyone infected.

Certain symptoms of pneumonia

If you have been exposed to the pneumococcus bacterium and are feeling ill, some of the common symptoms observed are:

• Shortness of breath, coughing, and high temperature. A combination of all these symptoms may indicate the presence of this bacterial infection.
• A general feeling of lowness accompanied by fever can be linked to bacteraemia, an infection that affects the blood.
• A slowdown in mental alertness, headache, and fever. A combination of these can indicate meningitis.

There are over 80 types of pneumococcus bacteria, 23 of which are covered by the vaccine that is currently available. The shot is injected directly into the body in order to stimulate the immune system. When the immune system is stimulated, it produces antibodies against the bacteria, resulting in pneumonia prevention.

This technique of stimulating the immune system to work against a particular microbe is known as immunisation. The vaccination is also called pneumococcal immunisation. 

Who should be given a pneumonia vaccination?

Some groups of people are thought to be particularly susceptible to acquiring this disease. Hence, medical professionals recommend that these groups should get the shots to immunise themselves against it. These groups are:

• People who are 65 years old or older.
• People who are more than two years old and are afflicted with chronic heart, lung, or other organic disorders, such as emphysema, chronic bronchitis, cardiomyopathy, chronic liver disease, and diabetes mellitus.
• People above two years of age suffering from spleen dysfunction resulting from sickle cell disease or asplenia; splenectomy, or the surgical removal of the spleen; malignancy of blood resulting in leukaemia; kidney failure; multiple myeloma; and alcoholism.
• People more than two years old undergoing immunosuppressive treatment for AIDS or organ transplantation.

Who should not be given a pneumonia vaccination?

The shot should not be taken by people who have a previous history of reacting hypersensitively to the vaccine. Safety of pneumonia vaccination during pregnancy, especially in the first trimester, has not yet been evaluated. Hence, women who are contemplating pregnancy or are already pregnant are advised to check up with their doctors before going in for immunisation against this respiratory disorder.

How is the pneumonia vaccine administered?

A single shot of the vaccine is sufficient for most people, with 0.5 ml of the liquid solution being injected into the deltoid muscle or as a subcutaneous injection. The part of the body to be injected is sterilised with alcohol by rubbing on it before the shot is given.

Side effects of pneumonia vaccine

The pneumonia vaccine does not usually cause any side effects; however, sometimes it can cause redness or soreness in the injected area, rash, fever, and occasionally even allergic reactions.

Although the vaccine is considered to be safe, it is generally not recommended for people who are otherwise healthy, even on exposure to the bacteria. Pneumonia is usually treatable with antibiotics. It is only those people falling in the above-mentioned vulnerable categories who should be given the pneumonia vaccination as a measure of prevention.

Finding Out More About Food Allergies

Our immune system is designed to protect our body from harmful invaders, such as bacteria. Sometimes, however, the system responds to substances normally considered harmless. The substance that provokes the attack is called an allergen; the substances that attack the allergen are called antibodies. A food allergy can provoke such a response as your body releases antibodies to attack specific proteins in food. When this happens, some of the physical reactions include:

• Hives
• Itching
• Swelling of the face, tongue, lips, eyelids, hands, and feet
• Rashes
• Headaches, migraines
• Nausea or vomiting
• Diarrhoea, sometimes bloody
• Sneezing, coughing
• Asthma
• Difficulty in breathing caused by swelling of tissues in the throat
• Loss of consciousness

If you are sensitive to a specific food, you may not have to eat the food to have the reaction. For example, people sensitive to peanuts may break out in hives just from touching a peanut or peanut butter and may suffer a potentially fatal reaction after simply tasting chocolate that has touched factory machinery that previously touched peanuts. People sensitive to seafood-fin fish and shellfish-have been known to develop breathing problems after simply inhaling the vapours or steam produced by cooking the fish.

How an allergic reaction occurs

When you eat a food containing a protein to which you’re sensitive, your immune system releases antibodies that hitch a ride on white blood cells called basophils. The basophils circulate through your entire body, giving the antibodies the chance to hop off and bind to immune system cells called mast cells.

Basophils and mast cells produce, store, and release histamine, a natural body chemical that causes the symptoms-itching, swelling, hives-associated with allergic reactions. Yes, that’s why some allergy pills are called antihistamines. When the antibodies carried by the basophils and mast cells come in contact with food allergens, boom! You have an allergic reaction.

Two kinds of allergic reactions

Your body may react to an allergen in one of two ways-immediately or later on:

• Immediate reactions are more dangerous because they involve a fast swelling of tissue, sometimes within seconds after contact with the offending food.
• Delayed reactions, which may occur as long as 24 to 48 hours after you’ve been exposed to the offending food, are usually much milder, perhaps a slight cough or nasal congestion caused by swollen tissues.

Foods Most Likely to Cause Allergic Reactions

Here’s something to chew on: More than 90 percent of all allergic reactions to foods are caused by just eight foods:

• Milk
• Eggs
• Peanuts
• Tree nuts
• Soybean-based foods
• Wheat
• Fish

Coping with Food Allergies

After you know that you’re allergic to a food, the best way to avoid an allergic reaction is to avoid the food. Unfortunately, that task may be harder than it sounds because the offending ingredient may be hidden-peanuts in the chili or caviar (“fish eggs”) in the dip.

Sometimes the “hidden” ingredient is hidden in plain sight on a food label that uses chemical code names for allergens. If you’re someone with a potentially life-threatening allergy to food (or another allergen, such as wasp venom), your nutritionist may suggest that you carry a syringe pre-filled with epinephrine, a drug that counteracts the reactions.