What are the most common causes for wheezing in non-smokers?

Cough is a reflex that protects your upper airway from foreign materials and irritants. However, when persistent, it can be a troublesome symptom. The cause of a chronic or prolonged cough can range from conditions arising from the nose (e. g. Rhinitis and Sinusitis), stomach (e. g. acid reflux from the stomach to the throat, medically known as Laryngopharyngeal reflux or LPR) and lungs (e. g. Asthma, Bronchitis etc) to side effects from medications (e. g. blood pressure medications) and smoking.

Wheezing is a situation whereby a patient’s airways go into spasms, resulting in the patient feeling short of breath and a high pitched “whistling sound” develops, which seems to come from the lungs. My patient usually complains that they feel tight in the chest and can hear a whistling sound and find it hard to speak in full sentences. It can be due to a variety of causes, with the most common causes being asthma attacks and infections of the airways or lungs.