Coughing cure is in the offing

London, Nov. 23: A cure for coughing is in the offing, thanks to scientists who have identified the process that leads to the reflex.

Coughing has largely remained a mystery to science.

Now, a team in Britain has found that the problem actually lies with receptors on nerve endings in the lungs which react to irritants.

For victims of persistent coughing in which no useful purpose is being served, the receptors on these nerve endings are repeatedly prompting the cough reflex.

If those receptors are blocked, coughing could be stopped, according to scientists from Britain’s National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London and Hull University.

Lead scientist Prof Maria Belvisi of the National Heart and Lung Institute and Imperial College said, “For some people, chronic coughing can be annoying and uncomfortable, but for others it can be distressing and can have a severe impact on their quality of life.”

“Many people say that certain things in the air can make them cough and we are very excited that we have shown, for the first time, exactly what is probably happening inside the lungs,” said Prof Maria Belvisi.

“Now that we think we have cracked the mechanism, we can start investigating whether we can stop people from coughing excessively by blocking the receptor protein that triggers it,” she said.