A Review, Update, and Commentary for the Cough without a Cause: Facts and Factoids of the Habit Cough

Abstract

Background: A habitual cough, persisting after the cause is gone, was described in a 1694 medical book. Successful treatment of this disorder known as habit cough was reported in 1966 by the "art of suggestion". The purpose of this article is to provide the current basis for diagnosis and treatment of the Habit Cough Syndrome.

Method: The epidemiology and clinical course of habit cough were reviewed; original data were obtained from three sources.

Results: Unique clinical presentation was the basis for diagnosis of habit cough. Diagnosis was made 140 times with increasing frequency over 20 years at the University of Iowa clinic and 55 times over 6 years at a London clinic. Suggestion therapy provided more frequent cessation of cough than just reassurance. A Mayo Clinic archive of chronic involuntary cough found 16 of 60 still coughing 5.9 years after initial evaluation. Ninety-one parents of children with habit cough and 20 adults reported cessation of coughing from viewing a publicly available video of successful suggestion therapy.

Conclusions: Habit cough is recognizable from the clinical presentation. It is effectively treated in most children by suggestion therapy in clinics, by remote video conferencing, and by proxy from viewing a video of effective suggestion therapy.

Keywords: behavioral therapy; chronic cough; clinical education; cough; habit cough; hypnosis; suggestion therapy.

Figure 1

Annual diagnoses of habit cough by the faculty of the University of Iowa Allergy and Pulmonary Clinic from 1995 to 2014.

Figure 2

A map of 91 children (red dots) and 20 adults (blue dots) who informed us by email (via parents for children) of cough cessation from watching the video of a girl with chronic daily cough successfully stopped by suggestion therapy.