Chronic cough hypersensitivity syndrome

Chronic cough remains a clinical problem that most clinicians, whether in general or hospital practice, are bound to encounter in their professional lives. The new emerging concept of chronic cough being considered as a cough hypersensitivity syndrome may help scientists and clinicians to better understand and treat it. At the Seventh International Cough Symposium held in London in July 2013 and supported by Imperial College London and by unrestricted educational grants from Proctor Gamble and GSK, many aspects of the cough hypersensitivity syndrome were discussed and we have been fortunate to assemble a series of 12 reviews covering the various aspects of this problem. The first article focuses on personal reminicenses of Professor John Widdicombe who devoted his latter years to understanding the physiology and neural pathways of cough.