What Happens If You Cough Out Blood – Coughing up blood (hemoptysis) involves coughing up or spitting up blood mixed with mucus or sputum. There can be many causes, many of which are benign. However, see a healthcare provider immediately if you cough up a lot of blood, have a cough that gets worse, or have other symptoms such as chest pain, blood in the urine or stool, or a fever.
Coughing up blood involves coughing up or spitting up blood or bloody mucus from the lower respiratory tract (lungs and throat). Also called hemoptysis (pronounced “he-MOP-tih-sis”), coughing up blood is common and can have many causes. Most causes are not serious. However, you may need to visit the ER immediately if you cough up a lot of blood.
What Happens If You Cough Out Blood
Blood that you cough up often looks like bubbles or foam and is mixed with mucus or sputum. It may appear pink, red, or rust-colored and is usually in small amounts.
Coughing Up Blood: Causes And When To Seek Care
Coughing up blood (hemoptysis) is not the same as vomiting blood (hematemesis). Coughing up blood often looks like bloody sputum mixed with mucus. Blood comes from your throat or mouth. Blood purification involves removing large amounts of blood. It usually involves internal bleeding in the upper gastrointestinal (GI) tract.
It is possible. It all depends on what is causing the bleeding and the amount of blood loss. Most causes are mild and treatable. However, coughing up blood can be a sign of more serious conditions, such as serious infections or lung cancer. Losing too much blood at one time can be life-threatening and requires immediate medical attention.
Only a healthcare provider can determine how serious your condition is. If you cough up a lot of blood or if your condition does not improve, see a provider.
Causes range from mild (most common) to severe and potentially life-threatening. Usually, coughing up blood is associated with illness. The most common causes include:
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Your healthcare provider will review your medical history, perform a physical exam, and ask you questions to find out what is causing you to cough up blood. They may ask:
Your health care provider may also ask you about behaviors that put you at risk, such as drug use or smoking. They may try to identify possible causes by asking about other symptoms you have experienced.
Your provider may perform additional procedures or order other tests depending on what they suspect is causing you to cough up blood.
If you have severe blood loss, you will receive care in the intensive care unit (ICU). Your care team will work to stabilize and stop the bleeding before moving on to diagnose what is causing your blood loss.
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Once they’ve determined what’s causing you to cough up blood, your healthcare provider will discuss the best treatment plan to treat your symptoms and condition.
Coughing up blood can be a sign of a serious medical condition. Get emergency help if you cough up a lot of blood.
If you cough up a little blood for more than a week, make an appointment with a health care provider. They will determine what is causing your hemoptysis and get you the necessary treatment.
Get medical help right away if you cough up more than a few teaspoons of blood, if you have coughed up blood for more than a week, or if your cough is accompanied by other symptoms, such as:
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Don’t panic if you cough up a little blood. The most common causes are treatable. If you’re losing a lot of blood, your condition isn’t improving, and you have other symptoms, see a healthcare provider right away. It’s important to know what’s causing this symptom so you can get the care you need. Regardless of the cause, the sooner you get treatment, the better.
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A man coughed up a large blood clot that was shaped like his bronchial “tree,” or the air passages of the lungs. (Photo: New England Journal of Medicine ©2018)
Coughing up blood is a worrying symptom, but it is not common. Still, a California man shocked his doctors when he coughed up an unusual blood clot: It was shaped like his lung.
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The 36-year-old man was being treated for an acute heart attack, according to a new case report, published Nov. 29 in the New England Journal of Medicine. He had chronic heart failure, which means the heart muscle cannot pump enough blood to meet the body’s normal needs.
His condition was so serious that the doctors put him on a machine called a ventricular assist device, which helps the heart to pump blood. Because these machines can increase the risk of blood clots, he was given a blood thinner.
However, these drugs also increase the risk of bleeding, including coughing up blood. Indeed, the patient had several episodes of coughing where he coughed up a small amount of blood, according to the report. However, during an “excessive cough,” the patient spits up a “hard cast” of the correct bronchial tree. In other words, it was the thickened blood like airways of the lungs known as bronchi.
“We were surprised,” Dr. Georg Wieselthaler, a heart and lung surgeon at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), who treated the patient, told the Atlantic. “It’s a curiosity you can’t imagine – I mean, that’s very rare.”
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It is not uncommon for patients to cough up “bronchial” material, such as lymph or mucus. But blood is non-sticky and resistant to these other substances, meaning the liquid is less likely to stick when you cough it up, The Atlantic reports.
Wieselthaler told The Atlantic that in this case, the patient had an infection that increased levels of a protein called fibrinogen, which helps form blood clots. and high levels of fibrinogen could help a man’s large clot stay strong when he coughs it up.
Although the man no longer had an episode of coughing up blood, he sadly died a week later due to complications from heart failure.
Wieselthaler’s colleague Dr. Gavitt Woodard, a clinical fellow at UCSF, told The Atlantic that one of the reasons they decided to publish the photo was to show “the beautiful human body.”
Coughing Up Blood: Causes And When It’s An Emergency
Rachael participated in Live Science and was a former station editor and senior writer for Live Science between 2010 and 2022. He holds a master’s degree in journalism from the Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program of New York University. He also holds a B.S. in molecular biology and an M.S. in biology from the University of California, San Diego. His work has appeared in Scienceline, The Washington Post, and Scientific American. If you are coughing up blood, you need medical help to determine the cause. When you spit up blood, it usually comes from the lungs, throat or stomach. Coughing up blood is called hemoptysis and should never be ignored – it can be a sign of a serious medical condition.
There is nothing healthy about spitting up blood, but some cases are more serious than others. For example, if you are prone to bronchitis, you may find yourself coughing up bloody mucus. Bronchitis is the most common cause of hemoptysis.
Bronchitis is a respiratory disease that is usually viral but sometimes caused by bacteria. Bronchitis occurs when the mucous membranes in the lungs become irritated and inflamed.
As the lining becomes inflamed, friction and coughing may occur to help expel the phlegm. These coughing spells can irritate the lungs and trachea, leading to bloody mucus. Bronchitis can occur after a cold and can start with a dry cough that leads to more congestion.
When To See A Doctor About That Persistent Cough
It is recommended that you seek medical attention to make sure that hemoptysis is not a sign of a serious medical condition, especially if you smoke. A chest X-ray can help detect signs of lung damage caused by:
The convenience of care is comforting, but the quality of care you receive is more important. is the largest independent urgent care facility awarded the Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval® for accreditation, which demonstrates compliance with The Joint Commission’s national standards for quality and safety of health care in ambulatory health care. Our licensed physicians are committed to the highest quality of care and will refer you to a specialist if your hemoptysis requires specialized care. Hemoptysis or coughing up blood is a frightening condition for children and parents. Bleeding can sometimes be minor but sometimes it can be profuse and require emergency treatment. Since children often swallow their phlegm in our sputum, so hemoptysis may not be noticed for a long time unless the bleeding is very significant.
The causes of hemoptysis or coughing up blood can be many. The most common causes in children in India are related to diseases such as pneumonia and tuberculosis or tuberculosis. Other causes of hemoptysis or coughing up blood can be bronchiectasis and cystic fibrosis. Some children with foreign bodies in the lungs may also have hemoptysis, or cough up blood. Airway damage
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