Chronic Cough
When a cough lasts for months and the usual tests come back clear, research looks at the reflex itself rather than the lungs.
What research here looks at
A cough becomes chronic when it lasts for many weeks. Often a cause is found, such as asthma or reflux, and treating it settles the cough. For some people, nothing explains it, and the cough reflex itself seems oversensitive.
Studies in this area test medicines that quiet the nerves behind the reflex, speech and breathing therapy, and devices that count coughs through the day and night so that change can be measured rather than guessed.
The studies you are likely to find
Reflex medicine studies
Test tablets that act on the nerves that trigger coughing.
Therapy studies
Teach breathing and throat techniques that help hold back a cough.
Measurement studies
Compare cough monitors with diaries to see what really changes.
What taking part
can involve
Every study is different, and its consent form sets out exactly what it asks. These are the things studies in this area often include.
- A small recorder worn for a day or a night that counts coughs
- Breathing tests and, if not done recently, a chest scan or X-ray
- Questionnaires about how the cough affects sleep, work and voice
- Clinic visits spread across several weeks
Lines that listings in this area
often publish
A cough that has lasted for many months, with a doctor having looked for causes
A recent chest X-ray or scan with no explanation for the cough
Smoking now, or having stopped only recently
Blood pressure medicines of a type known to cause cough
A chest infection in the weeks before screening
These are patterns, not rules. Each study writes its own criteria, and only its team can say how a line applies to you.
Questions worth asking the study team
- Which tests do I need before I can start?
- How is my cough measured, and do I wear anything at night?
- Can I keep using my inhaler or cough remedies?
- Will I hear how my cough counts changed?
Look for chronic cough studies
The register opens in a new tab, already set to this condition and to studies that are recruiting.
Search ClinicalTrials.govOrva does not run or choose these studies. Contact the team a listing names.
