A cough that won’t go away? The real reason could be far more serious than a cold

Most coughs come and go without much thought. A winter chill, a dusty room or a simple viral infection can trigger a cough that settles within a few days. But when that cough lingers long after the usual remedies, it may be signalling something more important than a passing cold. Doctors describe any cough lasting longer than eight weeks in adults as a “chronic cough”, and a peer-reviewed medical review published in StatPearls highlights that persistent coughing is often linked to hidden issues such as asthma, reflux disease, heart problems, or chronic lung conditions. Ignoring it might delay a diagnosis your body is trying desperately to alert you to. A lingering cough always deserves attention. We often expect a cough to disappear as quietly as it arrived. But if it stays for week