Cough

Researchers are evaluating BLU-5937, an oral drug, in adults with refractory chronic cough, including unexplained chronic cough, in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 3 study. The main goal is to assess how BLU-5937 affects 24-hour cough frequency over 24 weeks. This study also monitors safety by tracking adverse events and changes in various health parameters during the treatment period. Participants are randomly assigned to one of three groups BLU-5937 25 mg twice daily, BLU-5937 50 mg twice daily, or a matching placebo taken twice daily. The treatment lasts for 24 weeks, and participants receive their assigned oral medication regularly throughout this time. The study uses a parallel-arm design and includes an extension in China. During the study, participants undergo assessments including cough frequency measurement, vital signs, blood tests for hormones and chemistry, hematology, and ECGs at baseline and Week 24. Researchers also evaluate cough severity and quality of life using questionnaires. Safety is closely monitored by recording adverse events, treatment discontinuations, and laboratory changes. The total participation duration is 24 weeks, with follow-up assessments at specified intervals.

Coughing is a common and distressing symptom for people with interstitial lung disease ILD, affecting daily activities, work, and social life. This research explores a non-drug cough control therapy combined with pulmonary rehabilitation to see if it is practical and helps reduce chronic cough lasting more than eight weeks in ILD patients. The study aims to assess how well patients accept this therapy and whether it improves quality of life, cough symptoms, and fatigue compared to standard pulmonary rehabilitation alone. Participants will join a pulmonary rehabilitation program involving aerobic and strengthening exercises, disease-specific education, and self-management as usual care. Two weeks before finishing this program, they will receive four virtual sessions of 45 to 60 minutes each, focusing on cough control education and techniques. These sessions include assessing cough, learning suppression methods, breathing retraining, and reinforcing strategies to manage cough in daily life. During the study, researchers will track enrollment and attendance to measure feasibility, along with various clinical outcomes like cough severity questionnaires, fatigue scales, breathlessness ratings, and patient satisfaction interviews. The intervention is delivered online via Zoom, allowing remote participation. The total study duration averages one year, with ongoing assessments to understand the therapys impact and participants experiences.

Researchers are evaluating the effects of a self-administered acupressure intervention on cough and related symptoms in lung cancer survivors. The study aims to see if acupressure can reduce cough, lessen a symptom group involving dyspnea, cough, and fatigue, and improve overall symptom burden, functional capacity, and quality of life for these patients. This is a randomized controlled trial focusing on supportive care for lung cancer survivors. Participants are randomly assigned to either an 8-week acupressure program or an education group. Those in the acupressure group attend two training sessions at the hospital during the first week to learn proper techniques. They then perform acupressure daily on 15 specific points at least twice a day and during coughing episodes. The education group receives a booklet about lung cancer, cough causes, and management strategies. Trainers follow up with acupressure participants twice weekly to support and assess their practice. Participants will keep diaries recording their acupressure practice and symptoms. They are assessed at four times before treatment, after 1 week, after 8 weeks, and 8 weeks post-intervention. Researchers evaluate cough severity, cough-related quality of life, the dyspnea-cough-fatigue symptom cluster, fatigue, symptom burden, functional capacity, and health-related quality of life. The study runs from baseline through an 8-week intervention and an 8-week follow-up period, with ongoing monitoring via diaries and trainer contacts.

Researchers are investigating cough patterns in adults with chronic cough lasting at least 8 weeks. They have developed a new one-page questionnaire that identifies four distinct cough patterns and allows patients to describe other patterns they experience. The questionnaire also measures cough frequency, intensity, and disruption to daily life on a 1-10 scale to calculate an overall severity score. The study aims to understand these cough patterns and how they relate to patient experience. This observational study has two parts. In Part 1, about 30 patients will complete the questionnaire once, providing feedback on its clarity and whether the identified cough patterns cover their experience. In Part 2, another group of 30 patients will complete the questionnaire twice, 2 to 4 weeks apart, to assess how consistent the questionnaire responses are over time. Informed consent and eligibility screening can be done in person or by telephone. Participants will complete the questionnaire describing their cough pattern and rate the frequency, intensity, and life disruption caused by their cough. Researchers will analyze the patterns, severity scores, and the reproducibility of the questionnaire. The study includes eligibility checks, data collection through questionnaires, and monitoring over several weeks. The total involvement depends on the study part but includes initial and follow-up questionnaire completion.

This observational study focuses on children aged 0 to 17 years with asthma, protracted bacterial bronchitis, chronic cough, or exposure to inhaled glucocorticosteroids without an asthma diagnosis. It aims to improve identification of biomarkers that predict disease progression and assess the effectiveness of current therapies. The study involves multiple groups of children based on medical history and evaluates the microbiome, cellular composition, and metabolomic profiles related to respiratory conditions. Participants will undergo a single fiberoptic bronchoscopy during hospitalization, where samples of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and mucosal biopsies with separate consent are collected for detailed analyses including metagenomic, metabolomic, culture, and histopathological studies. Follow-up visits over five years will include blood sample collection, sputum sampling when possible, and respiratory function tests such as spirometry, impulse oscillometry, and Fractional Exhaled Nitric Oxide measurements, without repeating bronchoscopy. Throughout the study, researchers will collect medical history, demographic data, and environmental exposure information to understand disease progression and treatment response. The primary outcomes include evaluating microbiome and metabolomic profiles immediately after bronchoscopy and correlating these findings with treatment and disease course over two years. Secondary outcomes involve assessments up to five years for asthma control, pathogen prevalence, antibiotic resistance, and personalized treatment possibilities. Total participation includes an initial procedure and long-term monitoring up to five years.

Researchers are studying children aged 7 to 11 to understand how physical activity in areas with high air pollution affects lung health compared to rest in the same conditions. The study focuses on children attending schools classified by their air pollution levels, aiming to assess airway resistance and inflammation related to pollution exposure during physical activity versus sedentary behavior. Participants will be randomly assigned to either a 90-minute outdoor physical education PE lesson or a 90-minute outdoor science lesson, both conducted in their school playgrounds. During these sessions, children will wear activity monitors to track their movements, and air pollution levels will be recorded. Lung health assessments including height, weight, breathing tests, and nasal samples will be collected before and after the sessions. Children will be assessed on two separate days, with lung function and immune response tests conducted immediately after and 24 hours post-exposure. The study involves about four hours of total participation time, including health assessments and activity or rest sessions. Researchers will compare lung health changes between children in higher and lower pollution schools to understand the impact of air pollution during physical activity.

Pain after thoracotomy is often severe due to the surgical incision affecting ribs, muscles, and nerves. This trial evaluates the effects of combined acupressure on post-thoracotomy pain and lung volume. The study explores how acupressure, a non-drug method that stimulates specific body points to balance energy flow and regulate pain, may help reduce opioid use and improve recovery after thoracic surgery. Participants are randomly assigned to either an experimental group receiving acupressure at specific points on the body at 2, 6, and 24 hours after surgery or a control group receiving standard care without acupressure. Each acupressure point is stimulated for one minute. Both groups continue routine clinical treatment and care during the study. Participants will have their pain levels measured at rest, during breathing, coughing, and movement before surgery and at 2, 6, and 24 hours post-surgery using a visual analogue scale. Lung volume will be recorded before surgery and 24 hours after using a triflow device. Additional assessments include breathing and coughing exercises and vital signs such as blood pressure, respiratory rate, and oxygen saturation. The study aims to improve pain management and lung function after thoracotomy while minimizing opioid-related side effects.

Researchers are investigating the possible link between hemorrhoids and coughing by studying patients who visit a general surgery outpatient clinic with symptoms such as bleeding, pain, itching, fecal leakage, prolapse, and mucus discharge. The study aims to determine if coughing is a contributing factor to hemorrhoids by assessing cough symptoms, including their presence, duration, and frequency, in patients diagnosed with hemorrhoidal disease. This prospective, observational study will gather detailed information on cough severity, comorbid chest diseases, and smoking history among these patients. Patients diagnosed with hemorrhoidal disease will be examined and graded based on mucosal prolapse according to the Goligher classification. Evaluations will include physical exams, height and weight measurements, and questionnaires such as the Leicester Cough Questionnaire and the Cough Visual Analog Scale. Cough duration will be categorized as acute or chronic, and additional data will be collected on chest diseases and smoking status. Patients with cough will be referred for further chest disease evaluation. Participants will provide demographic and clinical information, including cough and hemorrhoid symptoms, comorbidities, and lifestyle factors. The study will measure the relationship between hemorrhoid severity and cough characteristics, along with chest disease presence and smoking history. Data will be collected between March and June 2025, and the primary outcome will focus on cough severity as measured by the Leicester Cough Questionnaire.

Researchers are evaluating a smartphone-based Cough Management CM program designed to reduce cough frequency and burden in adults aged 21 to 80 years who have refractory or unexplained chronic cough. The study aims to determine if four weeks of using the CM feature in the CoughPro app can lower the objective cough rate compared to each participants one-week baseline. It also investigates whether the program decreases cough intensity and improves quality of life based on patient-reported scores using the Leicester Cough Questionnaire and PGI-S. Participants will use the CoughPro wellness app, which includes behavioral lessons based on cough suppression therapy to help recognize and control the urge to cough. They will wear a Hyfe CoughMonitor smartwatch continuously for six weeks one week for baseline cough monitoring, four weeks of the intervention using the CM program, and one week of follow-up. The smartwatch passively monitors cough frequency without recording audio. The program is delivered entirely through participants devices. During the study, participants will complete online questionnaires at baseline and after four weeks of intervention. They will also take part in a brief exit interview before returning the smartwatch and receiving compensation. Researchers will measure changes in cough rate, cough intensity, and patient-reported cough burden. The total participation time is six weeks, including baseline, intervention, and follow-up periods.

Researchers are working to develop and validate a new patient-focused tool called the Cough Control Questionnaire CCQ to assess the control of chronic cough, a condition lasting more than 8 weeks that affects 5-12% of people worldwide and impacts health status and quality of life. Unlike asthma, there are currently no validated tools specifically designed to measure cough control. This study aims to create and test a questionnaire that may help evaluate treatments for chronic cough in clinical and research settings. The study consists of three phases. First, a literature review will examine existing tools for assessing respiratory disease control. Next, patient focus groups and expert panel reviews will develop the CCQ through qualitative research and cognitive interviews to ensure clarity and relevance. Finally, patients with chronic cough will complete the CCQ along with assessments of cough severity, quality of life, and health status. Some participants will also undergo objective cough frequency monitoring and cough reflex testing to validate the questionnaire. Participants will be adults aged 18 to 100 years with chronic cough, including refractory and unexplained types. They will take part in focus groups or validation studies by completing questionnaires and interviews. The study measures outcomes such as cough control via the CCQ, cough severity, quality of life, cough frequency, and reflex testing over a two-week period. This observational study is sponsored by Kings College Hospital NHS Trust and runs until September 2031.