Stop Coughing

Causes Of Coughing Up Blood

Reasons For Coughing Up Blood Can Be Serious - Or Not

Causes of coughing up blood can be serious or minor. Very often, when someone says they're coughing up blood, they actually mean they're coughing up blood with mucus. This blood can come from several places, including the lungs, airway passages leading to the lungs, the nose, mouth, or throat. Some causes of coughing up blood are more serious than others, of course, and the goal of this article is to educate you about the most likely possibilities.

Whenever you're coughing up blood, with mucus or without it, you should tell your doctor right away.

Hemotopysis is the medical term for coughing up blood specifically from the respiratory tract. The origin of the term comes from Greece where the word for blood was "haima," the word for spitting was "ptysis." When blood comes from someplace besides the respiratory tract, the condition is known as "pseudohemoptysis." Hematemesis is the medical name for vomiting up blood, which is a type of pseudohemoptysis.

Reasons for coughing up blood Here's a quick list of the most common causes of coughing up blood.

• A blood clot in the lung (pulmonary embolism)
• Certain types of illegal drugs, such as cocaine
• Fluid in the lungs (pulmonary edema)
• Foreign objects lodged in your airway, such as a particle of food that leads to a ruptured airway
• Lung cancer
• Lung infections such as bronchitis, pneumonia
• Some forms of heart failure
• Trauma to the chest, such as from a car accident
• Violent coughing.
   

Diagnosis Diagnosing of the specific causes of coughing up blood can be difficult.

If you don't smoke and you cough up mucus with blood in it, the cause is probably a mild infection. Very often, such infections trigger coughing which will rupture a small blood vessel. This is one of the most common reasons for coughing up blood.

But coughing up blood can be a symptom of something more serious for long-time smokers. Conditions might include

• bronchiectasis which is chronic dilation and infection of the bronchioles and bronchi,
• pneumonia, a serious a lung infection,
• pulmonary embolus, which is a clogged artery in the lungs that can lead to tissue death,
• tuberculosis, which is the most common worldwide cause of hemoptysis, though occurrence is now relatively rare in industrialized countries.

Doctors usually classify hemoptysis as trivial, mild, moderate and massive or major.

Massive hemoptysis, which can interrupt breathing, requires immediate medical attention. Mortality rates can be as high as three out of four.

Mild to moderate hemoptysis is characterized by small amount of blood or sputum streaked with blood, In a majority of these cases are caused by a benign underlying disorder that goes away without causing serious problems or permanent damage.

Once again, diagnosis by a qualified medical professional is important.

Coughing up blood symptoms When mild to moderate amounts of blood come up, it's important to note whether there are any other symptoms of a problem. These symptoms could include

• chest pain,
• cough,
• fever,
• nausea,
• purulent sputum (thick, opaque, yellowish white discharge),
• rapid breathing,
• shortness of breath,
• unexplained weight loss,
• vomiting.

Once again, regardless of other symptoms, anyone who is coughing up blood in any amounts should contact their doctor. In most cases, there's nothing to worry about. But it's not worth taking a chance, because there's always the possibility that coughing up blood could be a symptom of a serious health threat.