Dear coughing cough should not be suppressed

Better not suppress cough
Who is the cough, especially with a cold. This happens automatically and involuntarily and may even last all night. Which is very annoying, but has its health sense. Therefore, coughing should not be suppressed and rather supported and facilitated instead.

Better not suppress cough - instead support. (Image: Photographee.eu/fotolia.com)

Cough is a reflex generously applied by the body. If something in the respiratory tract is disturbed, such as inflammation, mucus, cold or dust, the cough reflex begins, which is supposed to clear the respiratory tract. No signal is sent to the cerebrum. Because the cough must also work when the brain is busy with all sorts of other things. Because coughing is a vital reflex like breathing.

So what if we feel a coughing sensation? "Even if it is annoying - can effectively suppress coughing anyway," reports the general practitioner Sabine Gehrke-Beck of the Berlin Charité to the dpa. She says that even with the strongest cough suppressant codeine there is no proof that it works at all. "With codeine one sleeps in case of doubt, however better," confirms the doctor. Doctors prescribe the cough suppressant but only if patients are completely overtired and it can not be otherwise. Because codeine can create an addiction. Therefore, home remedies for cough, which facilitate the coughing, much more useful than to suppress the cleaning process of the body.

A popular home remedy for colds is ginger tea. The miracle ginger ginger has an anti-inflammatory effect and strengthens the immune system.

Thyme and ivy look good
Those who literally do not want to wait and drink tea can try vegetable juices, said Prof. Andreas Michalsen, chief physician of the Department of Naturopathy at Immanuel Hospital Berlin. "Well documented is the effect of thyme and ivy," says the doctor. "Of course, the cough does not heal overnight." However, they could shorten the duration a bit and relieve symptoms, explained Michalsen.

"Acute remedies such as horseradish, cress, onion or ginger help against coughing," explains Michalsen. It does not matter how you prepare the miracle tuber, for example, as a juice mixed with honey or ground into powder. (Sb)