Coughs That Won't Quit

Don't miss any Bottom Line Secrets. Add our address, bottomlinesecrets@ebls.bottomlinesecrets.com, to your Address Book or Safe List. Learn how here. February 16, 2011 Drug-Free Treatment Reverses Even Bone-on-Bone Arthritis... How to Get Rid of a Cough That Won't Go Away Perfect Painkillers... Top Workplaces for People Age 50+ Did You Know that You Can... Dear healthwellness82@gmail.com, You’ve got a cough that won’t go away... it’s keeping you and everyone else in your house up at night... and, let’s be frank here, you’re worried. The good news is, chronic coughs are almost always curable, and the most common causes are generally not serious. Diane Conley, RRT, CRE, consultant to the Chronic Cough Clinic at Foothills Medical Center in Calgary, Canada, and a leading researcher in the field, reveals some surprising causes and simple cures for nagging coughs -- including one that even may surprise your doctor! You need a job and you’re not so young anymore... where do you find an employer? Deborah Russell, director of workforce issues for the AARP, shares insights into which companies welcome 50-plus workers -- and where to find a great list of places to send your résumé. All the best, Jessica Kent Editor BottomLineSecrets.com PS: Don’t forget to check out Bottom Line President Marjory Abrams’ latest blog posting: Before You Go Swimming in a New Germ Pool. And don’t forget to share your thoughts on the blog with Margie. Drug-Free Treatment Reverses Even Bone-on-Bone Arthritis... "Bone-on-bone" is the term doctors use for the last agonizing stage of arthritis. Your cartilage is totally ground away. Steroids and supplements are pointless. Alice was told her only hope was total knee replacement, yet, thanks to a brilliant physician, she skipped the surgery and feels like new. That's right. Alice licked bone-on-bone arthritis without surgery or drugs. And she did so with astonishing speed. In fact, not long after seeing this doctor, she left on a three-week shopping vacation -- then returned to the doctor's office with gifts for the entire staff, and pronounced herself pain-free! What's the secret? Learn more... How to Get Rid of a Cough That Won't Go Away Diane Conley, RRT, CRE Calgary COPD & Asthma Program If you have a nagging cough, you may be tempted to just "live with it." Don’t make that mistake. Even though most chronic coughs (persisting for eight weeks or longer) are not caused by a serious illness, an unresolved cough can disrupt sleep and interfere with work, home and social life. Good news: With the right combination of treatments, chronic cough almost always can be cured. WHY WE COUGH Coughing protects the airways from foreign particles. But a persistent cough usually indicates that something is stimulating your cough reflex unnecessarily. Important finding: In a study of 102 chronic-cough patients, 26% were found to have two or more causes for their cough. Since any number of factors can be blamed for a chronic cough -- and often, multiple factors occur at once -- diagnosis is usually not straightforward. The type of cough (such as dry or sputum-producing) is not always a reliable indicator of the cause. CONDITIONS TO RULE OUT If your primary care doctor is unable to diagnose and/or treat the cough, he/she can refer you to a pulmonologist (a medical doctor who specializes in treating diseases that affect the lungs).* Recent development: Since pertussis (whooping cough) is on the rise -- in part among adults whose immunity from childhood vaccinations has worn off -- your doctor may order a nose or throat culture and/or blood tests to check for it. In addition to also giving you a chest X-ray to rule out tuberculosis, a lung tumor or an illness, such as pneumonia, the doctor will test your breathing function with a spirometer. This small, plastic device measures the force and volume of your exhalation to detect any lung disease, such as asthma, emphysema or chronic bronchitis, that impairs your ability to breathe. Among the questions your doctor will ask you... Do you take an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor for blood pressure? One in five people who take an ACE inhibitor, such as enalapril (Vasotec) or benazepril (Lotensin), develops a chronic cough -- sometimes up to a year after starting it. Newer hypertension drugs, such as irbesartan (Avapro) and losartan (Cozaar), are less likely to have this side effect. Do you have symptoms of a systemic illness? These may include sudden weight loss, coughing up blood and/or unusual fatigue. Such symptoms could signal cancerous tumors in the lung or tuberculosis. WHAT’S CAUSING YOUR COUGH? If your cough is not due to one of the causes described above, it is likely due to... Postnasal drip. If nasal secretions that normally run down the back of the throat are thicker or more excessive than usual, post-nasal drip can lead to coughing. Allergies. A cough that occurs seasonally may be due to allergies. Over-the-counter drugs combining the antihistamine diphenhydramine and the decongestant pseudoephedrine (such as Benadryl Allergy & Cold) and prescription intranasal steroid medication, such as fluticasone (Flonase) or budesonide (Rhinocort), often help. Give any medication two weeks to have an effect. Caution: Do not use these medications if you have high blood pressure -- they may increase your stroke risk. Sinus infection. This is another common cause of cough. Steroid nasal spray and antibiotics may help treat this condition. Studies also have shown daily saline rinses, such as Neil Med Sinus Rinse or Ayr Sinus Rinse Kit, to be extremely effective at reducing symptoms of sinus infections. Helpful: Warm the mixture by microwaving for 30 seconds, but test the temperature first on your wrist. Little-known fact: A small percentage of coughs are caused by nasal secretions triggered by exercise, cold air or hot or spicy foods. For this group, ipratropium (Atrovent), a nasal spray that dries up excessive runny nose, works well. Caution: Do not use if you have glaucoma or enlarged prostate -- it can worsen these conditions. Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). A form of chronic heartburn, GERD is usually associated with burning in the esophagus. However, for many people with GERD, a persistent cough -- a reflex caused by acid in the esophagus -- is the only symptom. If GERD is believed to be causing a chronic cough, an acid-suppressing proton pump inhibitor medication, such as omeprazole (Prilosec) or esomeprazole (Nexium), is often tried for up to eight weeks -- to give the esophagus time to heal. Other measures include eliminating coffee and fatty and acidic foods and losing weight. Asthma. With asthma, a preventive daily inhaled corticosteroid, such as budesonide (Pulmicort) or budesonide and formoterol (Symbicort), may help. Potential allergic triggers, such as dust, cigarette smoke and pet dander, also should be avoided. Surprising: Beta-blockers, such as metroprolol (Lopressor) or hadolol (Corgard), taken for high blood pressure and migraines -- or even in eyedrop form for glaucoma and other eye conditions -- can trigger asthma-related coughing. Irritable larynx syndrome. Even most health-care professionals are not aware of this condition, which often starts with a cough due to a cold, sinus infection, GERD or asthma. Since the larynx (the air passage located in the front of the neck) has relatively small muscles that can become sore from the strain of repeated coughing, you may compensate by unknowingly tensing your larynx, which in turn triggers the cough reflex. If a cough persists after taking medication for asthma or GERD, try resting your larynx by doing absolutely no speaking, coughing voluntarily or clearing the throat for two days. If this doesn’t help, see a laryngologist (a medical doctor who specializes in treating the larynx and vocal cords) for an evaluation. Helpful: Whatever the cause of your chronic cough, ask your doctor about working with a respiratory therapist to help manage its treatment under your doctor’s supervision. Sessions are covered by most insurance plans. *To find a pulmonologist near you, consult the American Lung Association, 800-548-8252, www.LungUSA.org. Bottom Line/Health interviewed Diane Conley, RRT, CRE, a registered respiratory therapist and certified respiratory educator with the Calgary COPD & Asthma Program, a clinical group in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, that works with local hospitals and family practitioners’ offices. She assisted in developing the Chronic Cough Clinic at Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary and is coauthor of two recent studies published in Chest and the Canadian Respiratory Journal on managing chronic cough. Perfect Painkillers... Work in seconds, cost 23 cents and heal your gut! We're all trying alternatives now that painkilling drugs are proving so deadly. There's got to be a better way! And now there is, thanks to a brilliant physician named Dr. Mark Stengler. In a famous case that's making fellow doctors gasp in admiration, Dr. Stengler's patient, Todd, could barely believe how fast his arthritis agony disappeared after all those drugs had failed him. Read on for more details... Top Workplaces for People Age 50+ Deborah Russell Top workplaces for people age 50 and older feature wellness programs, flexible schedules, telecommuting and other adjustments that make life easier for employees. Number one is Cornell University, which allows telecommuting or compressed work weeks... provides access to campus fitness centers and nutrition and exercise classes... and gives time off for caregiving. Number two: First Horizon National Corporation of Memphis lets people phase into working more or fewer hours and offers job sharing. Other top workplaces: National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland... YMCA of Greater Rochester, New York... National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, Arlington, Virginia. For the full list, go to www.aarp.org and enter "Best Employers" in the search box. Bottom Line/Personal interviewed Deborah Russell, director of workforce issues, AARP’s 2009 Best Employers for Workers Over 50 list, Washington, DC. Did You Know that You Can... If you have arthritis, you've probably tried painkillers and heating pads. You may have even tried drugs like Celebrex® or supplements like glucosamine. But here are five little-known remedies that you probably haven't tried. They're safe... they're inexpensive... and they can dramatically curb your symptoms. Sounds like hyperbole, doesn't it? But it's not. This stuff really does exist. Read on... Important: Help your friends get much more out of life -- forward this E-letter to them. Better: Send it to many friends and your whole family. This is a free weekly e-mail service of BottomLineSecrets.com and Boardroom Inc. Boardroom Inc. 281 Tresser Boulevard Stamford, CT 06901-3229 ATTN: Web Team You received this e-mail because you have requested it. You are on the mailing list as healthwellness82@gmail.com. Or... a friend forwarded it to you. Disclaimer: Bottom Line Secrets publishes the opinions of expert authorities in many fields. 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