Coughing up phlegm repeatedly, what diseases could it be?
Sputum is the secretion of the bronchi and trachea, or the exudate in the alveoli, which is coughed up. Expectoration is divided into physiological and pathological. The former is normal secretions of the respiratory tract, and the latter is caused by inflammation of the respiratory tract. There is no need to worry if you cough up phlegm once or twice. This is a way of protecting the respiratory tract. If you cough up phlegm repeatedly, it is most likely a disease and should not be taken carelessly.
What diseases may be caused by repeated coughing up phlegm?
Repeated coughing up sputum is common in a variety of diseases, including bronchiectasis, pneumonia, fungal infection, and may also be tuberculosis or lung cancer. You need to go to the hospital for a lung CT examination to confirm. If the cause is still not found, you should go to the hospital for exhaled carbon monoxide measurement and pulmonary function tests to determine whether you have cough variant asthma, emphysema or chronic bronchitis. If the results of these tests are negative, it is also necessary to check whether the chronic cough is caused by other diseases, including gastroesophageal reflux, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and sinusitis. In addition, some special diseases can cause repeated coughing, such as throat lesions, foreign bodies in the bronchus, endobronchial tuberculosis, etc. In this case, you need to go to the hospital for a bronchoscopy to confirm. It is worth reminding that patients with high blood pressure are prone to coughing up sputum repeatedly, especially those taking antihypertensive drugs, which can easily cause coughing.
How to judge the condition based on the color of sputum?
1. Yellow phlegm
Yellow phlegm is purulent sputum, indicating inflammation in the body, and is common in acute bronchitis and pneumonia. There is also a yellow-green thick phlegm, which is most likely a bacterial infection.
2. White phlegm
Most sputum appears white, either milky white purulent sputum, translucent mucus, or transparent foam. When the elderly suffer from chronic bronchitis, the sputum they cough up is white and sticky; in the early stages of infection, the sputum is transparent or white; in patients with allergic rhinitis and asthma, the respiratory tract is irritated, and the sputum is white and transparent.
3. Red phlegm
Red sputum indicates blood in the sputum, which is common in hemoptysis caused by bronchiectasis, tuberculosis or lung cancer.
4. Black phlegm
There is black powder in the working environment, especially coal workers who often cough up black phlegm. After taking phlegm-promoting drugs for old smokers, the sputum discharged becomes black and frothy.
How to resolve phlegm?
1. Reducing phlegm
For those with chronic bronchitis and coughing up a lot of phlegm, the basis of treatment is to resolve phlegm and choose traditional Chinese medicine that can inhibit phlegm secretion, such as almonds and pinellia.
2, expectorant
For superficial upper respiratory tract infections, the focus of treatment is to remove phlegm. The traditional Chinese medicines you can choose include Albizia julibrissin bark, sunburned coltsfoot, and sunburned aster. You can also choose sunburned loquat leaves, sunburned ephedra, and white-haired prunella vulgaris. These traditional Chinese medicines have the effect of eliminating phlegm and relieving cough. , which is helpful for coughing up phlegm.
3. Drink
This method is suitable for foamy phlegm. The traditional Chinese medicines you can choose include cinnamon twig, Tingli seed and white mustard seed, which can promote the reabsorption of thin phlegm and reduce the amount of foam.
