What is the composition of phlegm and where is it generated?

Categories: Medical & Health >> Internal Medicine.

Problem Description:

Where the phlegm is produced. Analysis:

Hello friends: The mucus glands and goblet cells of the trachea and bronchi often secrete fluids that moisten the mucous membranes and adhere to the dust and microorganisms in the air. Normal people secrete 100ml per day. The cilia of the tracheal mucosal epithelial cells fan outwards continuously, fanning the secretions of the trachea into the pharyngeal cavity and swallowing saliva into the stomach, usually without coughing.

However, when the trachea and hollow bronchi are inflamed or even inflamed, the secretion increases significantly, which is no longer able to be fanned away by the cilia of the epithelial cells, and forms sputum, which can be coughed out by coughing.

When you are coughing up phlegm, please first understand the knowledge about phlegm: (1) Do you cough when you have a lot of phlegm? (Yes, a cough with phlegm is a wet cough; sputum production with shortness of breath, which may be exacerbated by pneumonia or emphysema; Chronic cough with sticky or purulent sputum and shortness of breath is typical of emphysema).

2) Do you have a fever? (e.g., slight fever, body temperature between 37 and 38, mostly combined with bacterial infection; acute cough with thicker discharge; with fever and night sweats is tuberculosis; Acute cough discharge is thick, with fever, possibly pneumonia).

3) Is there a lot of phlegm? (If the amount of sputum is large, it may be seen in the tracheal dilation of the branch).

4) What color is the phlegm you cough up? (Yellow or yellowish sputum, indicating suppuration** staining of the respiratory tract; yellow-green or gray sputum, more common in pneumonia and chronic bronchitis; red or brownish-red sputum, mostly suggestive of blood, seen in tuberculosis and bronchiectasis; rusty sputum in lobar pneumonia; Black phlegm is found in coal digging and boiler burners).

5) Is coughing up phlegm thin or sticky? (Thin sputum is seen in chronic bronchitis, bronchial asthma, etc.; Thick sputum is more common in the early stages of bronchitis, asthma, and pneumonia). Sputum cultures done in the hospital to detect bacteria may indicate infection.

Normal people have very little sputum. In smokers or when there is a lesion in the respiratory tract, the amount of sputum increases. Several common diseases with excessive phlegm are as follows:

1. Chronic bronchitis is prone to coughing, wheezing, and phlegm after cold, which does not heal for a long time, and can form emphysema and pulmonary heart disease. In bacterial infection, the sputum is yellow and sticky and feverish.

2. Pneumonia, lobar pneumonia, with rusty sputum and chills and fever.

3. Tuberculosis fever, night sweats, and a large amount of sputum when forming pulmonary cavities, and tuberculosis bacteria can be found in laboratory tests, which can be accompanied by bloody sputum.

4. Bronchiectasis has a lot of sputum, which can be divided into three layers: thin, viscous and extra-viscous, and can also be accompanied by coughing up blood.

5. Lung abscess has a lot of sputum and smells, accompanied by fever.

6. The sputum infected by Pseudomonas aeruginosa is green or yellow-green, sticky, and accompanied by fever.

7. Lung cancer: Cough up thin or thick sputum, sometimes bloody, and the sputum in the advanced stage is also smelly.

If there is a lot of phlegm, you should go to the hospital for a detailed examination, such as taking an X-ray chest **. If infection, sputum cultures should be done. After the causative bacteria are cultured, drug susceptibility tests are done to the bacteria so that antibiotics can be used in a targeted manner.

Sputum contains mucus, foreign bodies, pathogenic microorganisms, various inflammatory cells, and necrotic and exfoliated mucosal epithelial cells. The fluid in sputum is mainly secreted by mucus-secreting glands and goblet cells of the bronchial mucosal epithelium.

The production of phlegm is the result of the discharge of sewage from the human respiratory tract. Normally, particles, viruses, bacteria, etc. that enter the respiratory tract will be stuck by mucus. It's the slime protecting ourselves.

At the same time, the small cilia in the trachea do ciliary movements like wheat waves, slowly pushing out these dirty things. More often than not, the mucus is swallowed unconsciously. When there is a lot of mucus in the trachea, the person will cough and spit.

The mucous membranes of the respiratory tract have mucous glands and cilia. Mucous glands secrete mucus (more viscous) and serous fluid to moisten the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract and stick to small particles or bacteria that enter the respiratory tract with air, and the cilia on the mucosa will move upward, this ciliary movement will move the mucus and foreign bodies upwards to clear the respiratory tract, so that phlegm is a mixture of mucus secreted by mucus glands and serous and foreign bodies.

It is mainly the mucus produced by goblet cells that mixes with microorganisms and bacteria in the air, and is discharged from the body by the ciliary tract on the respiratory tract through directional swinging, which is called sputum.

The composition of phlegm is mainly water, and it contains human proteins and other components, and after infection, it contains germs and some foreign substances.

Garbage in the body. It contains bacteria, viruses, toxins, and bodily fluids that dissolve these waste products.

Proteins, bacteria, dust, water.

How is the phlegm coughed up in the lungs produced? What is phlegm and is it a toxin in the body?