Chronic cough and throat clearing post-Covid? It may signal heart attack, stroke

People suffering from common laryngopharyngeal dysfunction like chronic cough hoarseness recurrent throat clearing especially after Covid may be at significant risk of developing a heart attack or stroke warns a study on WednesdayResearchers from the University of Southampton observed a reduction in baroreflex sensitivity a measure of how much a persons heart rate changes in response to changes in blood pressure in patients with throat symptomsThe team noted that the findings could be explained by the Vagas nerve which controls the autonomic nervous system prioritising protection of the airways over less urgent functions such as blood pressure regulationldquoOur immediate survival depends on the throat being able to separate air and food passages each time we swallowrdquo said lead author Reza Nouraei Professor of Laryngology and Clinical Informatics at the University of SouthamptonldquoThe throat does this using delicate reflexes but when these reflexes are disturbed for example due to a viral infection like Covid or exposure to reflux affecting nerves in this region the control of this critical junction becomes compromised giving rise to symptoms like the feeling of a lump in the throat throat clearing and coughingrdquo Nouraei addedThe study published in JAMA Otolaryngology showed that ldquoin patients with a faulty throat the heart specifically a function called baroreflex is less well controlledrdquoThis can ldquolikely impact longterm survival as patients with reduced baroreflex function are more likely to die of a heart attack or stroke in years to comerdquo Nouraei saidIn the study the team involved 23 patients admitted to ear nose and throat ENT surgery with aerodigestive symptoms like choking episodes chronic cough and difficult or painful swallowing These patientrsquos heart rates blood pressure and baroreflex sensitivity were compared with 30 patients admitted to Gastroenterology with digestive esophagogastric symptomsThe aerodigestive tract involves lips mouth tongue nose throat vocal cords and part of the oesophagus and windpipeWhile reflux was a common cause of symptoms in both groups people in the aerodigestive group were found to have a higher resting heart rate and lower resting blood pressure They also had lower baroreflex sensitivity than those in the digestive groupldquoNow and especially since Covid which damages nerves we are seeing more patients with throat symptomsrdquo Professor Nouraei saidldquoThis study helps us to think about patients more holistically As a clinician if you can fix a problem in the throat that is potentially taking away bandwidth from the Vagus then it frees up the nerve to give to the rest of the bodyrdquoThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever