Classifying Cough and Establishing a Diagnosis

Cough
Students Name
Institutional affiliation
Persistent Coughing
What other effect does the cough make you feel?
Is the cough severe in the morning hours?
What happens when you drink cold water during the evening?
If you’re not exposed to any dust, is the coughing persistent?
How does your nasal passage behave when exposed to cold weather and dust?
Of the two i.e. Cold weather and dust which one is causes more congestion to the nasal?
Can you tell me or present your medical history?
Classification
Cough is classified in accordance to the duration it persists on a patient. It is either acute, subacute or chronic (Kenny, 2015). Acute coughs take less than three weeks for a person to recover and are as a result of cold or upper respiratory tract infection like flu, whooping cough or pneumonia (McCrory, 2013). Subacute take more than 3 weeks but not more than 8 weeks to cure. It mostly affects patients who were ill or had an infection has been cured. Lastly, chronic coughs take more than 8 weeks and they occur as a result medication and medical condition of a diagnosed patient (Kenny, 2015). In our case the woman is suffering from chronic cough which needs diagnosis by a physician. The cough must have been caused by previous medication she was taking to cure an illness or a current medical condition she has. The cough
Diagnosis
After identifying the cough then establishing a decisive diagnosis is easier and treating the cause of the cough. A clear understanding of the medical history, test results and physical exam results will help come up good diagnosis. The physician should ensure he understands the current health condition of the patient and recent illness the patient was suffering from. Accessing the area, environment where he/she lives and why the dust is too much is important. With doctors help he/she will be advised on how to help keep a...