Managing Cough as a Defense Mechanism and as a Symptom

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Cough can be defined by how long it persists

Acute cough lasts for 3 weeks or less; its most frequent cause is the common cold, but occasionally, acute cough can be due to a more serious illness such as pneumonia or congestive heart failure.

Chronic cough lasts for 3 weeks or more; it is sometimes caused by more than one condition (most commonly in nonsmokers by postnasal drip syndrome [PNDS], asthma, or gastroesophageal reflux disease [GERD]) and is very frequent in tobacco smokers whose "smoker's cough" can mask a second, more serious cause of cough.

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