A study found people who smoke are less likely than non-smokers to seek medical attention for what researchers describe as "alarm" symptoms of lung cancer. This includes cough and hoarseness. The best treatment for smoker's cough is to quit smoking altogether. As you work toward that goal, you can use lifestyle strategies and, if necessary, medications to help improve your cough. There are many ways to quit smoking. If you're struggling to quit, have a talk with your healthcare provider about support options, such as smoking cessation aids.
These include nicotine replacement therapy and medications like Chantix varenicline or Zyban buproprion. Some who quit are alarmed that their smoker's cough increases immediately afterward. Known as smoking cessation cough , this is actually normal.
After quitting, cilia are given more opportunity than they ever had while you were smoking to repair themselves. Their increasing ability to remove foreign material from the throat, trachea, and airways means more coughing to remove it. This worsening of smoker's cough after quitting is temporary.
Most can look forward to it beginning to diminish within three months of kicking the habit. The following strategies may help calm your cough and make it easier to cope with:. Talk to your healthcare provider before you use any cough suppressants. These medications are generally reserved for short-term use if your cough is causing significant discomfort or affecting your sleep.
Coughing has a function beyond clearing out whatever cigarettes or cigars have introduced to your airways. It also removes other materials in the environment that can get breathed in, such as household mold, exhaust from a wood stove or fireplace, or exposure to chemicals in the workplace.
Easing, rather than suppressing the cough reflex entirely, is recommended for this reason. Lungs are self-repairing, and smoking cessation immediately begins the process. In addition to diminished smoker's cough, lung function can dramatically improve in only a few months.
After one year, the risk of heart attack and stroke drop by half, and that risk continues to drop each year thereafter. However, it is important to know that even if smoking is stopped, the risk of lung cancer can persist and remains higher than that of a non-smoker for a lifetime. This is particularly the case in former heavy smokers. The five-year relative survival rates for lung cancer depend on how far it spreads.
A persistent cough is one of the most common symptoms of lung cancer. That said, certain people who smoke are advised to have a yearly low-dose computerized tomography CT scan of the lungs regardless of whether or not they have a chronic cough. This is the best way to detect lung cancer in the earliest possible stage, when it is most treatable. Screening is recommended for those who:. Limiting processed foods and red meats can help ward off cancer risk. These recipes focus on antioxidant-rich foods to better protect you and your loved ones.
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