[Chronic cough: time to recognize it as a disease].

Clinically, chronic cough is typically defined as a condition in which cough is the sole or predominant symptom, persisting for more than 8 weeks, with no significant abnormalities detected on chest X-ray. Increasing evidence suggests that chronic cough represents a disease with a variety of phenotypes, characterized by cough hypersensitivity in clinical and pathophysiological aspects. Unexplained chronic cough or refractory chronic cough constitutes adistinct phenotype. Defining chronic cough as a distinct disease entity-shifting the focus from symptom management to disease management-can help standardize clinical diagnosis and epidemiological studies, update clinical medical education and health insurance reimbursement systems, improve doctor-patient communication, reduce unnecessary investigations and treatments, and promote research into the pathogenesis of chronic cough and the development of new drugs.