How often do you cough each day? Do you cough more when you’re indoors or outside? Do you cough more after eating? Or at night?
You might be unable to recall your cough memories accurately. All of the information you have about your coughing patterns can help you better understand your health. Some coughs are a natural way to get rid of extra phlegm. Others could indicate more serious conditions like asthma, GERD (gastroesophageal acid reflux disease), and even lung cancer.
“In the era of precision health, it’s ironic that such a problematic symptom is simply unmeasured,” says Peter Small, chief medical officer at Hyfe AI, a company that boasts a database of more than 700 million cough samples, the largest in the world, that researchers are analyzing for potential medical use.
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The power of cough information is immense. With the proliferation of smartphones and wearables equipped with recording devices, apps can capture and analyze this data. Google Health, for example, sees even the simplest information like a count of coughs per day as useful and part of a greater need to collect more health data.
