Exploration of the Pathogenesis and Treatment of Allergic Cough Based on the Concept of "Exuberant Wind and Pervasive Dampness,Dampness Moves with Wind"
Abstract: Allergic cough (AC) is a respiratory allergic disease with a complex pathogenesis and generally poor response to conventional drug therapy. The clinical characteristics of AC,such as sudden onset and prolonged refractory course,are similar to the pathogenic features of wind and dampness in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). The key pathogenesis of AC involves lung-spleen qi deficiency, internal accumulation of dampness-turbidity, wind stirring dampness, and upward disturbance of yang positions. Latent dampness is stirred by wind, triggering the onset of symptoms;yang pathogens open and drain pathways,allowing yin pathogens to take advantage and become entrenched. Wind movement drives dampness flow, while dampness obstruction disperses wind, creating a mutually causative relationship. In treatment, wind and dampness should be addressed simultaneously: dispelling wind, suppressing adverse qi,and searching out pathogens to clear exuberant wind manifestations;tonifying the lung and strengthening the spleen to eliminate the source of dampness production; diffusing the upper body, unblocking the middle, and percolating the lower body to disperse and eliminate latent dampness. Clinical practice requires assessing the predominance of wind or dampness,differentiating the urgency of the disease progression,and maintaining a dynamic balance between "movement and stillness, " "ascent and descent, " and "unblocking and tonifying" to achieve the effect of "calming wind and removing dampness,thereby naturally relieving cough."