sniPPets from the journals

Recent guidelines agree that upper airway diseases such as rhinitis and sinusitis, asthma, and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) are the most common triggers of chronic cough (CC). It is presumed that in patients with upper airway diseases cough originates in pharyngolaryngeal receptors stimulated by the postnasal drip of inflammatory material or made hypersensitive by mucosal inflammation and damage. In asthmatic patients cough is likely to originate from stimulation of intrathoracic airway receptors, and in patients with GERD, it probably originates from stimulation of oesophageal receptors. However, an involvement of upper airway receptors is a possibility in asthmatic patients because rhinitis, sinusitis, or both, are common comorbidities, and in patients with GERD, because the refluxate often reaches the larynx and might go up to the rhinopharynx. Moreover, in asthmatic patients no clear relationship has been demonstrated between cough-receptor sensitivity and bronchial responsiveness, and persistence of cough has been reported, even after achieving good asthma control with inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs).