Mischief-Makers in Asthma
Are you suffering from flu or are you just coughing? Is it asthma or what? You might be wondering what causes the odd coughing that you suffer.
The truth is, if your cough persists for more than a week or so, you may be at risk of "eosinophilia".
In fact, there are nearly one million people who suddenly die of suffocation without knowing that they had been suffering from eosinophilia. The reason for this is that most people consider coughing and shortness of breathing as a mild condition and do not take it seriously. Some of them think that it is due to allergies like food allergy or hay allergy. By not attending to it early on will eventually lead to asphyxiation.
The Role of Eosinophils in Asthma
Eosinophils are type of white blood cells, which are important part of the body's defense system that engulf and digest parasites like bacteria and fungi. They accumulate whenever allergic conditions like asthma take place to defend the body at all cost.
But Too Much Eosinophils Can Be Dangerous
Sometimes, an unusually large numbers of eosinophils occur in the blood. In fact, the prolonged coughing you are experiencing may be caused by particularly high eosinophil counts in the blood.
If a flu virus enters the body, eosinophils work to fight the infection. However, if it does not function properly, the amount of eosinophils multiplies around the bronchus, and will start to destroy the surrounding cells. This is the true cause of coughing. We call this "chronic eosinophilic bronchitis". This is a very dangerous disease that might lead to death.
If you are coughing for more than a week without knowing its cause, we recommend you to consult your physician. Diagnosis at early stage can prevent sudden death.
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