谈咳嗽分类的临床意义

Clinical significance of category of cough

咳嗽是临床常见的病症,中医传统地将咳嗽分为外感、内伤两大类。此分类方法在临床实践中常常带来一些困惑及混乱。咳嗽在临床上是否需要分类?咳嗽分类可以解决什么问题?咳嗽分类的临床价值何在?是需要大家思考、讨论的问题。

Cough is a common clinical disease. It was traditionaly classified by traditional Chinese medicine as two categories, external affection and internal damage. This kind of definition always bring some troubles and confusion in clinical practice, is it really necessary to categorize in clinic？ What are the problems that the category could solve？ What are its values？ These are the questions that deserve our discussion and thinking.