Chest
Clinical InvestigationsCoughCough Reflex Sensitivity in Cigarette Smokersa
Section snippets
Subjects
Twenty healthy, asymptomatic, male, current-smokers were recruited for the study, which was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Albert Einstein Hospital/Montefiore Medical Center. The amount and duration of cigarette smoking required for study entry was arbitrarily defined as at least five cigarettes daily for 1 year. Subjects had no history of pulmonary disease (including asthma or previous history of chronic cough) or recent (ie, within 4 weeks) symptoms suggestive of respiratory
Results
The induction of five or more coughs was achieved in all subjects and nonsmoking control subjects. Subjects and control subjects did not differ in terms of age and baseline pulmonary function (Table 1). The mean (± SEM) log C2 and log C5 values for subjects and control subjects are displayed in Figure 1. Cough reflex sensitivity was significantly diminished in current-smokers relative to nonsmokers.
Discussion
This study has demonstrated that asymptomatic current cigarette smokers have a significantly diminished cough reflex relative to that of healthy nonsmokers. The inhibition of cough sensitivity due to long-term exposure to tobacco smoke contrasts with the previously documented enhancement of bronchial reactivity caused by cigarette smoking.1112 These observations are an excellent illustration of the concept that cough and bronchoconstriction are separate entities that are controlled by distinct
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Presented in part at the American Thoracic Society International Conference, Atlanta, GA, May 22, 2002.