Cough

The patients infected with Avian Influenza (H5N1) have had symptoms of Cough, Diarrhea, Fever, Sore Throat, Pneumonia and Acute Repiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). Not everyone has every symptom.

Coughing is the body’s way of cleaning the breathing system and getting rid of phlegm (mucus with pus) and germs in the throat or lungs. So when a cough produces phlegm, do not take medicine to stop the cough, but rather do something to help loosen and bring up the phlegm.
Treatment for cough: Where There Is No Doctor chpt 13
1. To loosen mucus and ease any kind of cough, drink lots of water. This works better than any medicine. Give plenty of liquids. If the person will not eat, give him liquid foods or Rehydration Drink.
2. Also breathe hot water vapors. Sit on a chair with a bucket of very hot water at your feet. Place a sheet over your head and cover the bucket to catch the vapors as they rise. Breathe the vapors deeply for 15 minutes. Repeat several times a day. Some people like to add mint or eucalyptus leaves or Vaporub, but hot water works just as well alone.
CAUTION: Do not use eucalyptus or Vaporub if the person has asthma. They make it worse.
3. For all kinds of cough, especially a dry cough, the following cough syrup can be given: Mix: 1 part; honey 1 part; lemon juice; Take a teaspoonful every 2 or 3 hours.
WARNING: Do not give honey to babies under 1 year. Make the syrup with sugar instead of honey.
4. For a severe dry cough that does not let you sleep, you can take a syrup with codeine (p. 384). Tablets of aspirin with codeine (or even aspirin alone) also help. If there is a lot of phlegm or wheezing, do not use codeine.
5. For a cough with wheezing (difficult, noisy breathing), see Asthma (p. 167), Chronic Bronchitis (p. 1.70), and Heart Trouble (p. 325).
6. Try to find out what sickness is causing the cough and treat that. If the cough lasts a long time, if there is blood, pus, or smelly phlegm in it, or if the person is losing weight or has continual difficulty breathing, see a health worker.
7. If you have any kind of a cough, do not smoke. Smoking damages the lungs.

For pneumonia, treatment with antibiotics can make the difference between life and death. If the person is wheezing, an anti-asthma medicine with theophylline or ephedrine may help.

Medications that may help coughs include mucolytics like Ambroxol (may suppress influenza virus, Bromhexine, Salbutamol, expectorants like Guaifenesin, and bronchodialators like Albuterol. Aerosol medications may increase the risk of spreading a viral infection and should be avoided if possible.

How To Drain Mucus For The Lungs, Postural Drainage.
When a person who has a bad cough is very old or weak and cannot get rid of the sticky mucus or phlegm in his chest, it will help if he drinks a lot of water. Also do the following: First, have him breathe hot water vapors to loosen the mucus.
Then have him lie partly on the bed, with his head and chest hanging over the edge. Pound him lightly on the back. This will help to bring out the mucus.

Stethescopes

The following links may help people to understand the sounds and use of stethoscopes.

  • Lung Sounds
    Stellenbosch University, Department of Internal Medicine

While it is not necessary to have a great stethescope, you do need one that fits your ears, and the disposable ones are just too lightweight to work. A few hints when listening to chests….

  • Listen to the bare chest and back, not thru clothing, even thin gowns.

  • Listen now to healthy chests, lungs, heart and bowels to get the hang of it.

  • When listening to lungs, listen to the right then left, then lower on the right, then same spot on left, and all the way down the lungs. That way you can pick up differences in each lung. Many times you will have good sounds in one lung, and the other is junky, or maybe just junky in both bases.

  • Get a good picture of how the lungs sit in the ribcage and where the heart is, so you will know if the absence of a sound in that area is normal or not, and where the edges of the lungs are.

  • If you hear something, have the person cough and see if it clears, many times it does….that is a good thing.

  • Listen for bowel sounds in all 4 quadrants. Draw an imaginary box around the umbilicus, and listen in all 4 areas. Bowel sounds are not always easy to hear, sometimes it takes a minute or so before you hear a little growl. Also make sure you are listen to bare skin, not thru clothing.

  • When you listen to lungs, listen to the anterior chest (front) and posterior(back). Many times you really don’t hear much at all in the front, but the back gives lots of good information.

  • Pneumonia can sound like paper rubbing together when breathing, or can be very wet sounding.

  • Wheezing is the easiest to hear, as it is like a high pitched whistle, sometimes just with inspiration and sometimes with expiration as well. Sometimes wheezing is so audible, you can hear it across the room.

  • When you use your stethescope, make sure the bell is turned the right way so you can hear. Tap the bell with the earpieces in your ear and see if you hear the tap, if not, turn the bell and try again.

  • Make sure the earpieces are facing forward toward the front of your head, that is the direction your ears are. That may not make much sense until you try one on for size, it provides a better fit and makes it more comfortable to wear.

  • http://allheart.com/cm93dual.html These stethoscopes are resonably priced at $8.
Page last modified on May 04, 2006, at 01:39 PM by fredness