wmartin@brl-tgr.ARPA (Will Martin ) (08/09/85)
Is there any simple and reasonable way to disable (read "switch it off by conscious will") the coughing reflex, or, to do so, would I have to undergo years of yoga training, or have cyborg neurosurgery? I get so disgusted with my body for subjecting me to a fit of painful and uncontrollable coughing, on the average of once a week or so, for the simple reason that a little saliva slips down my trachea instead of my esophagus. After all, saliva is a totally natural bodily fluid, not that different from the mucus that normally lines the tracheal and bronchial surfaces -- if the body had any sense, it would ignore it. But nooooooo! Instead it insists on making me hack and spasm for no good reason... I'm sure this happens to everyone -- it did to members of my familiy and my friends, and is common enough that it generates no large amount of comment -- after you check that the person is not really choking, you ignore it. But it happened to me at least once in a concert, and it caused me vast amounts of concentrated painful force of sheer will and hate and fury to force my wretched foul body to stop its offensive noise and spasming (a classical concert, where it mattered, and where coughers and similar vermin must be stomped into paste..). I see no reason nor justification for tolerating such behavior on the part of my body, and I don't see why anyone would; thus, it *should* be common knowledge how to force this involuntary behavior to stop. (From a simple evolutionary perspective, to be able to control this should have evolved -- the ones that coughed and couldn't control it would have gotten eaten by the sabretooths...) I'm not asking for the reflex to be removed -- it can certainly act as a survival aid when you fall into water or breathe foul gasses. But when it is triggered for no good reason, it should be subject to cancellation by the higher nervous system -- that is, by will. Note also that I don't smoke, and this is not a "chronic" problem -- it is something offensive and annoying that seems to be caused by random chance, and should be able to be banished. Any advice? Regards, Will Martin UUCP/USENET: seismo!brl-bmd!wmartin or ARPA/MILNET: wmartin@almsa-1.ARPA
sdyer@bbncc5.UUCP (Steve Dyer) (08/13/85)
> Is there any simple and reasonable way to disable (read "switch it off > by conscious will") the coughing reflex, or, ... [Obviously an excess of catarrhal secretions...] I suppose it depends exactly how violent these coughing fits are and on how long they last to make a decision on whether any treatment is desirable or necessary. I don't know of any antitussive methods outside of drugs, though others might suggest something less invasive. Studies of drugs like codeine or dextromethorphan have a hard time separating the placebo effect from any true antitussive action, both drugs and placebos being more effective than no treatment, so there seems to be SOME way to "control" coughing without drugs. Antitussives in ordinary doses tend not to completely suppress the coughing reflex, but raise the threshold for response to an irritation. Unfortunately, unless the coughing fit lasts more than 15 minutes or so, oral antitussives probably won't have any effect, and it seems undesirable to take any kind of drug as a prophylactic against a non-life-threatening condition which occurs only rarely. I would recommend you speak with your doctor for an appropriate course of action. As an aside, dextromethorphan is contained in just about every cough syrup sold over the counter--it's an interesting drug: its "levo" isomer is a synthetic narcotic similar to codeine; the "dextro" isomer has no narcotic effect, but does show antitussive activity. -- /Steve Dyer {decvax,linus,ima,ihnp4}!bbncca!sdyer sdyer@bbnccv.ARPA