system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: When you are sick and have a cough how does the body stop coughing and allow you to fall asleep?
gpt
You do not stop caughing, you continue to caugh in your sleep. Your body is able to do a lot of things in its sleep including all the reflexes associated with caughing. It is only if it is not able to clear your throat itself that it will wake you up so you can do more drastic measures. So even if you are sick and caughing you will fall asleep and continue to caugh but may wake up in the middle of the night if your cauching becomes too bad.