A habit cough is a chronic cough that has no underlying organic cause or medical diagnosis, [1] [2] and does not respond to conventional medical treatment. [3] This is sometimes called tic cough,somatic cough syndrome and previously psychogenic cough, but without clinical justification. [1]
Different terms and conditions involving this form of chronic cough were ill-defined and not well distinguished. [4]
Coughing may develop in children or adults after a cold or other airway irritant. [5] Similar symptoms of habit cough have been reported in adults and may be the same disorder as is seen in children or adolescents.
A medical textbook from 1685 by Thomas Willis, (1621-1675) described an adult woman with “a violent dry cough following her day and night, unless she was fallen asleep,” a description that would fit the habit cough diagnosis today. A 1694 medical book by Franciscus Mercurios (1614-1699), a Flemish physician, alchemist, kabbalist, and writer included in his book, The Spirit of Diseases: “...Habitual Cough, which often continues after the first cough, which was caused by the cold, is gone .... and the Habitual Cough often proceed.” Charles Creighton (1847–1927), a British physician and medical author, in an 1886 medical book, Illustrations of Unconscious Memory in Disease, described, "...a habit cough – a reflex effect persisting after the cause is gone .... or an acquired habit....” He went on to state, “...the treatment of it is to break the habit ....."
In the 19th century, habit cough was also referred to as "stomach cough". [6]
In the 20th century, the terms habit cough, tic cough, psychogenic cough, somatic cough syndrome and somatic cough disorder have been used to describe a type of chronic cough in the absence of an identifiable medical disease that does not respond to conventional treatment. [1] A psychological or psychiatric basis has been considered but not established. [7]
The ACCP suggested in 2015 that the name tic cough replace habit cough without any factual or clinical basis, even though there were no clinically apparent shared characteristics with tics and tic disorders.
Weinberger and Lockshin wrote in 2017: "However, our experience has found habit cough to fit the syndrome best, and has been most acceptable to the families in diagnosing and explaining the nature of the disorder." [2]
Habit cough is commonly characterized by a harsh barking cough, and can persist for weeks, months, and even years. The cough's hallmarks are severe frequency, sometimes a cough every 2–3 seconds, and the lack of other symptoms such as fever. The patient can have trouble falling asleep but once asleep will not cough. Absence once asleep is considered essential.
There are many causes of chronic cough. [8] Habit cough is usually readily identified by its clinical presentation as a repetitive daily non-productive (dry) cough that is absent during sleep. People feel that the cough is different from ordinary coughs. The cough can vary in intensity, pattern, and frequency. The clinical characteristics bear little resemblance to other causes of cough. A chest x-ray and pulmonary function if the child can perform the test are generally sufficient to provide evidence for the absence of lung disease causing the cough.
Suggestion therapy was established in the 1966 publication of Bernard Berman, an allergist in Boston. He cured 6 children by "the art of suggestion" for which he suggested that the physician must have sound judgment, be aware of the patient's emotional makeup, be honest and forthright with the patient, establish rapport with the patient and parents, and understand the art of suggestion. [9]
Treatment has relied on suggesting to the patient that they can break the coughing habit themselves. This has been done by direct contact with the patient, by video conference, and by proxy where a video of suggestion therapy stopping cough is observed. Hypnosis has also been effective and may be particularly helpful when suggestion therapy is not effective. [10]
A cough is a sudden expulsion of air through the large breathing passages which can help clear them of fluids, irritants, foreign particles and microbes. As a protective reflex, coughing can be repetitive with the cough reflex following three phases: an inhalation, a forced exhalation against a closed glottis, and a violent release of air from the lungs following opening of the glottis, usually accompanied by a distinctive sound.
Acute bronchitis, also known as a chest cold, is short-term bronchitis – inflammation of the bronchi of the lungs. The most common symptom is a cough. Other symptoms include coughing up mucus, wheezing, shortness of breath, fever, and chest discomfort. The infection may last from a few to ten days. The cough may persist for several weeks afterward with the total duration of symptoms usually around three weeks. Some have symptoms for up to six weeks.
Bronchiectasis is a disease in which there is permanent enlargement of parts of the airways of the lung. Symptoms typically include a chronic cough with mucus production. Other symptoms include shortness of breath, coughing up blood, and chest pain. Wheezing and nail clubbing may also occur. Those with the disease often get lung infections.
Atelectasis is the partial collapse or closure of a lung resulting in reduced or absent gas exchange. It is usually unilateral, affecting part or all of one lung. It is a condition where the alveoli are deflated down to little or no volume, as distinct from pulmonary consolidation, in which they are filled with liquid. It is often referred to informally as a collapsed lung, although more accurately it usually involves only a partial collapse, and that ambiguous term is also informally used for a fully collapsed lung caused by a pneumothorax.
Post-nasal drip (PND), also known as upper airway cough syndrome (UACS), occurs when excessive mucus is produced by the nasal mucosa. The excess mucus accumulates in the back of the nose, and eventually in the throat once it drips down the back of the throat. It can be caused by rhinitis, sinusitis, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), or by a disorder of swallowing. Other causes can be allergy, cold, flu, and side effects from medications.
A diagnosis of exclusion or by exclusion is a diagnosis of a medical condition reached by a process of elimination, which may be necessary if presence cannot be established with complete confidence from history, examination or testing. Such elimination of other reasonable possibilities is a major component in performing a differential diagnosis.
Hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) or extrinsic allergic alveolitis (EAA) is a syndrome caused by the repetitive inhalation of antigens from the environment in susceptible or sensitized people. Common antigens include molds, bacteria, bird droppings, bird feathers, agricultural dusts, bioaerosols and chemicals from paints or plastics. People affected by this type of lung inflammation (pneumonitis) are commonly exposed to the antigens by their occupations, hobbies, the environment and animals. The inhaled antigens produce a hypersensitivity immune reaction causing inflammation of the airspaces (alveoli) and small airways (bronchioles) within the lung. Hypersensitivity pneumonitis may eventually lead to interstitial lung disease.
Reactive airway disease (RAD) is an informal label that physicians apply to patients with symptoms similar to those of asthma. An exact definition of the condition does not exist. Individuals who are typically labeled as having RAD generally have a history of wheezing, coughing, dyspnea, and production of sputum that may or may not be caused by asthma. Symptoms may also include, but are not limited to, coughing, shortness of breath, excess mucus in the bronchial tube, swollen mucous membrane in the bronchial tube, and/or hypersensitive bronchial tubes. Physicians most commonly label patients with RAD when they are hesitant about formally diagnosing a patient with asthma, which is most prevalent in the pediatric setting. While some physicians may use RAD and asthma synonymously, there is controversy over this usage.
Medically unexplained physical symptoms are symptoms for which a treating physician or other healthcare providers have found no medical cause, or whose cause remains contested. In its strictest sense, the term simply means that the cause for the symptoms is unknown or disputed—there is no scientific consensus. Not all medically unexplained symptoms are influenced by identifiable psychological factors. However, in practice, most physicians and authors who use the term consider that the symptoms most likely arise from psychological causes. Typically, the possibility that MUPS are caused by prescription drugs or other drugs is ignored. It is estimated that between 15% and 30% of all primary care consultations are for medically unexplained symptoms. A large Canadian community survey revealed that the most common medically unexplained symptoms are musculoskeletal pain, ear, nose, and throat symptoms, abdominal pain and gastrointestinal symptoms, fatigue, and dizziness. The term MUPS can also be used to refer to syndromes whose etiology remains contested, including chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, multiple chemical sensitivity and Gulf War illness.
Autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome (ALPS) is a form of lymphoproliferative disorder (LPDs). It affects lymphocyte apoptosis.
Tourette syndrome is an inherited neurological disorder that begins in childhood or adolescence, characterized by the presence of multiple physical (motor) tics and at least one vocal (phonic) tic.
Occupational asthma is new onset asthma or the recurrence of previously quiescent asthma directly caused by exposure to an agent at workplace. It is an occupational lung disease and a type of work-related asthma. Agents that can induce occupational asthma can be grouped into sensitizers and irritants.
Bronchitis is inflammation of the bronchi in the lungs that causes coughing. Bronchitis usually begins as an infection in the nose, ears, throat, or sinuses. The infection then makes its way down to the bronchi. Symptoms include coughing up sputum, wheezing, shortness of breath, and chest pain. Bronchitis can be acute or chronic.
Williams–Campbell syndrome (WCS) is a disease of the airways where cartilage in the bronchi is defective. It is a form of congenital cystic bronchiectasis. This leads to collapse of the airways and bronchiectasis. It acts as one of the differential to allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis. WCS is a deficiency of the bronchial cartilage distally.
Vocal cord dysfunction (VCD) is a pathology affecting the vocal folds characterized by full or partial vocal fold closure causing difficulty and distress during respiration, especially during inhalation.
Functional disorder is an umbrella term for a group of recognisable medical conditions which are due to changes to the functioning of the systems of the body rather than due to a disease affecting the structure of the body.
Eosinophilic bronchitis (EB) is a type of airway inflammation due to excessive mast cell recruitment and activation in the superficial airways as opposed to the smooth muscles of the airways as seen in asthma. It often results in a chronic cough. Lung function tests are usually normal. Inhaled corticosteroids are often an effective treatment.
Tropical pulmonary eosinophilia, is characterized by cough, bronchospasm, wheezing, abdominal pain, and an enlarged spleen. Occurring most frequently in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, TPE is a clinical manifestation of lymphatic filariasis, a parasitic infection caused by filarial roundworms that inhabit the lymphatic vessels, lymph nodes, spleen, and bloodstream. Three species of filarial roundworms, all from the Onchocercidae family, cause human lymphatic filariasis: Wuchereria bancrofti, Brugia malayi, and Brugia timori.
Chest pain in children is the pain felt in the chest by infants, children and adolescents. In most cases the pain is not associated with the heart. It is primarily identified by the observance or report of pain by the infant, child or adolescent by reports of distress by parents or caregivers. Chest pain is not uncommon in children. Many children are seen in ambulatory clinics, emergency departments and hospitals and cardiology clinics. Most often there is a benign cause for the pain for most children. Some have conditions that are serious and possibly life-threatening. Chest pain in pediatric patients requires careful physical examination and a detailed history that would indicate the possibility of a serious cause. Studies of pediatric chest pain are sparse. It has been difficult to create evidence-based guidelines for evaluation.
Chronic cough is long-term coughing, sometimes defined as more than several weeks or months. Generally a cough lasting for more than eight weeks for an adult would meet the clinical definition of a chronic cough; and for children this threshold is lower. The term can be used to describe the different causes related to coughing, the three main ones being upper airway cough syndrome, asthma and gastroesophageal reflux disease. It occurs in the upper airway of the respiratory system. Generally, a cough lasts around one to two weeks; however, chronic cough can persist for an extended period of time defined as six weeks or longer. People with chronic cough often experience more than one cause present. Due to the nature of the syndrome, the treatments used are similar; however, there are a subsequent number of treatments available, and the clinical management of the patients remains a challenge. Risk factors include exposure to cigarette smoke, and exposure to pollution, especially particulates.
Weinberger M, Buettner D, Anbar RD. A Review, Update, and Commentary for the Cough without a Cause: Facts and Factoids of the Habit Cough. J. Clin. Med. 2023, 12, 1970. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm12051970
Weinberger M, Buettner D. Habit Cough is a Cause of Chronic Cough in Adults. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol 2023;130(6):808-809