How to deal with fatty cough

Persistent fatty cough can lead to a number of complications. Here’s how to treat it and prevent its consequences.

When it becomes insistent it greatly reduces the quality of life and can lead to a number of complications. Here’s how to treat it and prevent its consequences.

Despite being a very frequent symptom, cough is too often dealt with superficially, although it can be linked to numerous diseases of the upper and lower respiratory tract.

It is a reflex act, mostly involuntary, which serves as a defense mechanism aimed at ridding the respiratory tract of harmful substances accidentally penetrated or pathogens (bacteria, viruses).

The fat form

The so-called “fatty cough”, also called productive, is a form of cough accompanied by mucus secretions in the bronchi: this substance, semi-fluid and viscous, has the task of protecting the respiratory tract by trapping any microorganisms and foreign particles. The production of mucus, by the glands (called mucipar) present in the respiratory mucous membranes, increases precisely if there are diseases affecting the airways.

Normally the mucus is directed towards the exit from the vibratory cilia that cover the walls of the respiratory system, tiny hairs very similar to those present in the nostrils, but microscopic, which, with a movement comparable to that of a wheat field shaken by the wind, move the mucus. In case of inflammation, however, the amount of mucus is quite high, so you have to cough, to clear the airways.

Causes of fatty cough

First of all, it is good to clarify that the productive cough (the so-called “fat”) is not always a sign of a serious disease. For example, frequent exposure to cigarette smoke, dusty environments or irritants (vapors, solvents, paints), can generate a cough that causes considerable anxiety, but does not constitute a serious danger to health.

Conversely, it is precisely the cases in which a sort of resignation and “peaceful coexistence” with a prolonged cough seems to be established, especially if cathartic and insistent, those that deserve more attention.

In general, fatty cough is the consequence of a bacterial infection of the respiratory tract. In addition to bronchitis and pneumonia in general, it is worth mentioning whooping cough (infection caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis) and tuberculosis (caused by Koch’s bacillus).

Viral infections (which often cause colds and flu) can also cause a productive cough, but which tends to appear later, usually due to the appearance of a bacterial superinfection.

Even a sinusitis, an infection of the paranasal sinuses, can lead to the appearance of a cough with persistent phlegm: it can happen especially in chronic forms, when the infected secretions cannot be expelled from the nose but, with a retronasal drip, end up in the throat, irritating it and triggering coughs to eliminate these secretions. In this case, cough is associated with nasal congestion, pressure and swelling in the forehead and eyes, headache.

Persistent cough accompanied by phlegm production is also one of the characteristic symptoms of cystic fibrosis: in individuals suffering from this rare hereditary genetic disease, due to a pair of defective genes, the body produces a very thick and sticky mucus that blocks and damages various organs, especially the lungs and pancreas, causing frequent lung and bronchial infections and also wheezing and laboredness.

A condition of gastroesophageal reflux (the ascent of the acid contents of the stomach through the esophagus to the pharynx), can trigger a chronic cough, which occurs especially after meals and when you are in a lying position (therefore also at night), associated with burning in the sternum, pain when swallowing and sore throat: it is, However, mostly of a dry and stubborn form.

Even the persistent cough that characterizes the forms of bronchial asthma, both professional (i.e. due to the inhalation of substances with which you come into contact at work), and those triggered by allergies, is initially dry, and then possibly associated with the expulsion of little liquid, foamy and whitish phlegm.

Features of fatty cough

Fatty cough does not always present itself in the same way: sometimes it appears after an initial phase of dry cough, other times it immediately becomes productive, but sputum can have different characteristics; at other times, finally, it can be associated with further symptoms and disorders.

Below we propose the characteristics that the fatty cough tends to assume in the presence of some particular pathologies. It is not an exhaustive scheme and it is not a tool to make a self-diagnosis: the actual diagnoses can only be made by the doctor and only after a visit and any further investigations.

Consequences and complications

When it becomes insistent, be it acute, subacute or chronic (i.e. lasting less than 3 weeks, between 3 and 8 weeks or more than 8 weeks, respectively), the quality of life suffers a lot.

Not only because it alters the harmony of the day, concentration, well-being, social relationships, professional activity and sleep, but also for a series of complications, even serious. Here are what they can be:

• trauma to the larynx
• damage to the mucous membrane of the airways
• muscle tears
• bradycardia
• cardiac arrhythmias
• haemorrhages (especially subconjunctival and nasal)
• episodes of sporadic urinary incontinence
• headache
• insomnia
• vomit

Chronic bronchitis

If the doctor tells you about chronic bronchitis it means that there is an irritation of the respiratory tract, with cathartic cough and increased bronchial secretions, which lasts for a long time.

It usually manifests itself around the age of 40 and favors men. It is strongly linked to the habit of cigarette smoking (70% of cases are smokers of more than 20 cigarettes a day). But also to air pollution, as evidenced by the fact that it is more frequent in the inhabitants of urban areas.

Patients with chronic bronchitis have a remarkable propensity to respiratory infections: the stagnation of bronchial secretions and tarry products inhaled with smoke determine, in fact, an excellent ground for the growth of numerous pathogens.

Infectious complications usually occur in the winter months with worsening cough and noticeable increase in sputum. In these cases, targeted and supportive antibiotic therapy is appropriate.

When to consult your doctor

In case of persistent fatty cough that lasts for more than 3 consecutive weeks the doctor should always be consulted. And even more so in the following situations:

• if there is a lack of strength, if there is breathlessness and fever
• in case of chest pain, especially in people with previous and / or ongoing cardiovascular diseases
• if there is presence of blood in the sputum
• if the phlegm is smelly or acquires an unusual or suspicious color
• if the cough affects a very young baby, especially if born prematurely and with a history of respiratory diseases

The most appropriate therapy

The objective of the treatment is twofold: on the one hand it is necessary to intervene on the causes and bacterial infections that may be present; on the other hand, secretions must be fluidized and expectoration promoted.

In chronic productive forms it is often appropriate to administer antibiotics for the prevention of exacerbations.

Although particularly annoying, it is better not to completely inhibit coughing, which serves precisely to eliminate secretions and foreign bodies.

If the mucus is thick and difficult to eliminate, as often happens in chronic forms, fluidifying mucolytics can be administered that make the secretions more fluid by helping their elimination through coughing.

Useful (especially in children) is then the aerosol with saline or preferably with sea water, to which mucolytic principles can also be added, but only after 2 years under medical advice

You can also follow some simple useful tips to prevent chronic coughing:

• avoid smoking and staying in smoky environments
• drink plenty of water
• avoid swallowing phlegm
• keep the rooms where you stay for a long time well humidified and at temperatures not too high (19-20 degrees are ideal)
• strengthen the immune system also by taking care of nutrition (useful for example a diet rich in antioxidants and probiotics).

Drugs against fatty cough

In case of fatty cough it is good to avoid, as already mentioned, to block it. No, then to drugs with sedative effect.

In addition to antibiotics, which should be prescribed by the doctor only in case of bacterial infections, and any other medicines for associated symptoms (for example antipyretics if there is also fever), to calm the fatty cough are recommended, usually in the form of syrup:

• expectorants, which allow the expulsion of excess mucus and/or reduce its production
• mucolytics, which have a fluidifying action able to reduce the stickiness of mucus, always favoring its expulsion.

Natural remedies against fatty cough

In addition to drugs and the aforementioned aerosols, you can counteract the discomfort of fatty cough with a classic grandmother’s remedy, the suffumigi, ie inhalations of hot steam that fluidifies the mucus making it easier to eliminate. It is sufficient to rest your head on the steam (on a basin of boiling water), cover your head and the container with a large towel, to avoid the dispersion of steam, and breathe open-mouthed for about ten minutes.

Additional benefits can be obtained by dissolving some phytotherapy remedies, antiseptics, expectorants and mucolytics in the water of the fumigations, in the form of essential oils or as leaves and roots to be left to infuse:

• eucalyptus
• liquorice
• sage
• pine
• myrtle
• hyssop
• horehound
• polygala
• altea
• thyme.

The same herbs can be used to prepare an herbal tea. For example, there are ready-made mixtures with marrobio, hyssop, polygala and eucalyptus in herbal medicine; Just a teaspoon of the mixture infused for 5 minutes in a cup of boiling water, strain and drink 2-3 times a day. The ideal is to sweeten with honey, which is recognized as having its own expectorant effect.