Looking for a home remedy for cough? One that is natural
and perhaps easy to go down? Consider the sweet liquid from
nature - pure honey.
Now, when you are down with a bout of sickness, for
instance, cold, sore throat, or fever, I am sure at one
point or another, you have wondered and questioned what's
going on in your body, what has gone wrong and is causing
those symptoms of discomfort...
An extremely common ailment which probably all of us have
experienced before, cough is a vital bodily function and
can be technically defined as an involuntary reflex
signalled and triggered by our brain to clear a blockage or
irritant (e.g phlegm, cigarette smoke, pungent gas, dust,
etc) from the air passage. What is visible or audible to us
when this happens is a sudden expulsion of air from the
lungs that helps clear airway very quickly.
When you complain of having a cough, doctors or pharmacists
often like to ask this question: is it chesty or dry?
Chesty cough or productive cough is characterised by the
presence of mucus or phlegm on the chest, whereas in a dry
cough where the throat and upper airways are inflamed or
irritated, no phlegm is produced or expelled. In some
cases, a cough can be chesty but is not productive. This
happens when the phlegm is not loose enough to be coughed
up. Many smokers can have a continual dry cough throughout
their lives. A cough caused by a viral infection such as
the flu or common cold usually disappears within two weeks;
if it does not, it may be a symptom of a more serious
problem and x-rays may be necessary to diagnose the
problem. Persistent or chronic cough could be caused by
environmental irritants or even stress (such a cough
disappears while sleeping), but it could also be a sign of
viral infection like bronchitis or pneumonia, whereby
antibiotic medicine would be required. Signs and symptoms
that point to an infection include fever, chills, body
aches, sore throat, nausea, vomiting, headache, sinus
pressure, runny nose, and night sweats. When cough is a
warning sign of an underlying cancer of the lung or air
passage, other symptoms may also be present, including
worsening fatigue, loss of appetite, weight loss, or
decreased ability to swallow solid or liquid foods.
Cure:
Over-the-counter cough syrups for minor coughs are easily
accessible. There are two primary goals in treating a
cough: one is to suppress the cough reflex, especially when
a cough causes pain or affects with sleep; the other is to
thin the mucus, making it easier to bring up and be flushed
from the body. It's beneficial to drink lots of water, warm
broth, tea, and room-temperature fruit or vegetable juice
to help thin and loosen the mucus.
I notice that across different cultures, home remedy for
cough can vary a lot. There is obviously an interesting
vast array of recipes for treating cough, but you may not
be very comfortable with some of them depending a lot on
the beliefs you grow up with (such as the concept of "heaty
and cooling foods" which I tend to believe in). Here I
would mention a few, using honey, one of nature's most
precious gifts: :
1. Mix equal amount of honey and lemon grass juice then
drink to reduce the coughs.
2. Mix a syrup consisting of 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper,
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, 1 tablespoon honey, 1
tablespoon apple cider vinegar, 2 tablespoons water, mix
and drink.
3. Boil some water with 2 garlic cloves, 1 table spoon of
oregano. Pour into a cup add 1 tablespoon of honey and
drink.
4. Make a lemon and honey drink. Active Manuka honey and
propolis have been commonly used as ingredients in the home
remedy for cough because of their strong antibacterial
properties.
Some researchers believe that honey, a traditional, natural
home remedy for cough can offer a "safe and legitimate
alternative" to dextromethorphan (DM), which can
occasionally cause severe side-effects in children,
including muscle contractions and spasms. A study (2007) by
researchers from Penn State College of Medicine, US,
involved 105 children with coughs between the ages of 2 and
18. Before bed, the children were given artificial
honey-flavoured DM cough syrup, buckwheat honey or nothing
at all. Results revealed that parents of children who
received the honey rated their children's sleep and
symptoms as better! Honey's ability as a home remedy for
cough may be due to the way it soothes on contact and
stimulates saliva. However, please note that honey should
not be given to children under age 1 because of a rare but
serious risk of botulism.
----------------------------------------------------
Ruth Tan is the owner of the website Benefits of Honey at
http://www.benefits-of-honey.com which is an immensely
rich, quality resource on honey and its benefits, and a
plethora of health-related issues.
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