Hello,
My grandfather just turned 80, and for the last few months he coughs every time he laughs. He claims he never smoked before, and most of his life he's been eating organic meats and fresh organic garden vegetables. He was a farmer in the Canadian prairies where they haven't used any pesticides or anything.

Anyone have any natural cures for cough or do you think this type of cough is serious? He refuses to see a doctor.

[www.healthyfoodrawdiet.com]

Have him get an X-ray or CT scan. Seriously. A long-term nagging cough is abnormal.

dehydration can sometimes be a source of a dry cough

but he should get xrayed or scanned to rule out anything serious

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

Don't know what a dry cough is, but this is what I do each time I have a cough that won't go away. You know, those little scratches that make you cough again and again. No matter how much you cough, it doesn't stop. I don't get it very often anymore but it used to be really irritating. It'd never stop so I got the idea one day to not cough and see what would happen. This is what I do.

I just breathe through it. Don't cough, don't swallow, don't do anything but calmly breathe through it. It sometimes takes some real effort to relax! It'll only take about 30 or 40 seconds though. Some interesting things happen during that time and observing those things might help divert attention from the "need" to cough.

One side of my face heats up from the inside. A tear comes from the eye on that side, or at least forms inside the eye, without actually coming out of the eye. And it feels like my throat is splitting, you might say. That splitting feeling is nothing dramatic by any means. Maybe that's not the best word for it either, but it seems a good description to me. Also, a juice of some sort seems to be released in my throat.

Then I cough once or twice and that's it.

I stumbled on this idea some years ago. It gave me added fuel for believing that we are internall capable of handling whatever comes our way.

Of course, this seems really at odds with that urge to cough. I don't have an explanation for this. Just to say that my little cough remedy always works for me.

Sorry if this isn't germaine to what a dry cough is. But the word nagging, and the word cough seem relevant, and, maybe this cough that I'm referring to can be called a dry cough. Don't know.

Whatever, I'm happy to get this idea out there somewhere. I've told quite a few people over the years but nobody has ever told me they've tried it.



This way is not compatible with Zen practice. This way IS Zen practice. - Dr. Doug Graham

Nothing whatsoever should be attached to. - Buddha

I looked up dry cough on Wiki [en.wikipedia.org] and in the middle of the second paragraph they said "A cough can be dry or productive, depending on whether sputum is coughed up."

Then it sounds like dry cough that I'm referring to.



This way is not compatible with Zen practice. This way IS Zen practice. - Dr. Doug Graham

Nothing whatsoever should be attached to. - Buddha

If your grandfather has mucus congestion, have him drink tea made with 1/4 teaspoon of Fenugreek seeds and hot water. You can sweeten with your non-sugar sweetener of choice. Also, he can drink lots of hot water with freshly squeezed lemon with sweetener of choice. These will help break up the congestion. The lemon will alkalize his body, too.

For coughs associated with colds/flus like Bronchitis, drink tea made with hot water and organic, dried Feverfew. About one teaspoon is good per 1.5 cups of water. You can make it stronger if needed. Continue drinking until the cough dissipates.

Also, consider that your grandfather might be allergic to something. In this case, you would want to remove the irritant from the environment. Make sure that the air in your place is clean and has enough humidity as that can affect breathing, too.

Not sure if any of that helps. Good luck. Therese