Person coughing into their hand

Imperial College London says that way more of us than you might think (one in 10 Brits) have a “chronic”, or ongoing, cough.

The issue may persist for “decades,” they say, and is more common among women than it is among men.

Of course, that’s just one reason for the sometimes debilitating issue. As GP Dr Ahmed recently shared in a TikTok video, he’s seeing patient after patient with an ongoing cough at the moment.

“I was duty doctor this morning and I’ve seen 20 patients – everyone apart from two or three patients came in with the same complaint,” he stated.

“That symptom is this ongoing chronic cough that everybody seems to have.”

So why is it so common, and when should we worry?

There are plenty of reasons why a person might have an ongoing cough

Part of the reason why so many people have an ongoing cough is that many, many conditions cause the symptom, Dr Ahmed shared.

The most common cause is a “

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