Expectorant

Expectorant

Noun

• a medicine which promotes the secretion of sputum by the air passages, used to treat coughs.

Notes

• Mucoactive agents are a class of chemical agents that aid in the clearance of mucus or sputum from the upper and lower airways, including the lungs, bronchi, and trachea. Mucoactive drugs include expectorants, mucolytics, mucoregulators, and mucokinetics.

• An expectorant (from the Latin expectorare, to expel or banish) works by signaling the body to increase the amount or hydration of secretions, resulting in more, yet clearer, secretions and lubricating the irritated respiratory tract. One mucoactive agent, guaifenesin, has anxiolytic and muscle-relaxing properties. It is commonly available in cough syrups and also as sustained-release tablets.

• Mucolytics can dissolve thick mucus and are usually used to help relieve respiratory difficulties.

• An expectorant increases bronchial secretions and mucolytics help loosen thick bronchial secretions. Expectorants reduce the thickness or viscosity of bronchial secretions, thus increasing mucus flow that can be removed more easily through coughing. Mucolytics break down the chemical structure of mucus molecules. The mucus becomes thinner and can be removed more easily through coughing. -Adams, Holland, & Bostwick, 2008, p. 591

References

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mucoactive_agent

Herbal Plants with Expectorant properties