It is very, very good of you to be concerned. A physical examination is important. The likely cause of cough is not directly related to wine or alcohol, but probably a chronic bronchitis is present. Exam with stethoscope and chest X-ray is essential. A spirometer exam in the office of the practitioner is straight forward and will inform about air flow and bronchitis. Simple inhaler intake daily will help. The X-ray will inform regarding possible pneumonitis. Encourage him to be checked please.

Hello,

It's really nice that you are trying to care about your friend with alcohol problem. Cough definitely is a serious symptom especially in a person with alcohol abuse. Differential diagnosis is quite broad and no reason to list all of them in front of you. Your friend needs work-up for his cough based on not only his bad alcohol habit, but also based on his medical history, whether he is a smoker, etc. Volume of tests could be quite big. But at least chest X-ray may provide valuable information and help to rule out some other tests.

Arkady Peterman