If a correct diagnosis is made, treatment is highly effective. A cough can be the result of swallowed food or drink going down the wrong tube. If this occurs on a regular basis, the cough will persist. Aspiration of swallowed food into the lung is unusual in healthy persons, but is common among the chronically ill and in those who are bedridden. Persons with impairment of the swallowing mechanism, such as those with strokes or Parkinsons disease, are most susceptible.
Some people cough for the same reason they bite their fingernails.
It is a habit. The characteristic throat-clearing cough is repetitive during the day but is not present during sleep. Recognition of the cause, and reassurance that disease is absent, is the foundation of a treatment plan. Other causes of a persisting cough include heart failure, an enlarged thyroid gland, tuberculosis, allergies and side effects from certain drugs. Sometimes the best of doctors may not find a cause and reluctantly attribute the cough to simple degeneration of airway tissues.