Do Gas Leaks In The House Cause Severe Cough?

Posted on Mon, 5 Sep 2016

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Mon, 5 Sep 2016 Answered on

Thu, 27 Oct 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : my moms 76 yrs old and recently in may there was a new 130 gas pipe installed because we had a major gas leak at that time. However, no permits pulled and the gas company cited my building for the fact that the gas lines were tapped into by plumbers because owners told them to but no permits pulled, and my moms been coughing since then and its getting worse. do you think its from the gas possibly, thats causing her to cough all nite long?

Answered by Dr. Indranil Ghosh (2 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Gas leak can cause irritation

Detailed Answer:
Hi
Thanks for your query.

Gas leaks can cause lung irritation and cough but that should not persist for so long. Is the gas leak still ongoing?

If not, I would recommend a thorough evaluation of her including chest Xrays and lung function tests. We should not miss any other cause of chronic cough while attributing it to gas irritation.

Hope this helps.
Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar