When bloody mucus or even blood is expelled from the respiratory tract, it is referred to as hemoptysis or lung bleeding. Minimal amounts do not pose a threat. However a consultation with a lung specialist is necessary to uncover the cause of the bleeding. Larger amounts of blood in the lungs may be life-threatening.
Hemoptysis is the medical term for bloody mucus that is coughed or expelled from the respiratory tract. It may be caused by various diseases and is possibly life-threatening. It can be either recurrent or to a limited extent. Sometimes, hemoptysis can be extensive with 200 to 600 ml of blood released within a day. Even if the blood loss is dangerous, choking is the principal danger. Hemoptysis or coughing up blood can indicate a severe medical issue. The condition happens when small blood vessels in the airways of lungs are damaged. When hemoptysis comes from inflamed bronchial tubes due to bronchitis, it can be harmless. However, the condition can be serious when it comes from cancer in the lung. Small amounts of blood is not dangerous compared to huge amounts of blood coughed up. The patient can have pain in the chest but doesn't need to.
Lung bleeding is not the same as bleeding from the mouth, throat or gastrointestinal tract. Blood that comes up with a cough often has a bubbly appearance as it is mixed with air and mucus. It is usually bright red or it may be rust-colored. Sometimes the mucus contains streaks of blood. It can also be accompanied by symptoms such as: 1) blood in your urine or stools, 2) chest pain, 3) dizziness, 4) fever, 5) light-headedness and 6) shortness of breath. The following diseases may cause hemoptysis: 1) blood clot in the lung (lung embolism), 2) injury of the lung, 3) bronchoscopy with biopsy, 4) bronchiectasis, 5) bronchitis, 6) cancer, 7) injury to the arteries of the lungs, 8) pneumonia, 9) tuberculosis and 10) autoimmune diseases.
It is important to be checked up by a doctor if hemoptysis occurs to uncover the underlying cause. In the case of lung bleeding, doctors may introduce oxygen, try to discover where the bleeding is originating from and stop it bronchoscopically. If this doesn’t work surgery may be required. If the bleeding is kept under control the underlying disease will be treated. With male smokers over 45 years of age, cancer is the most likely cause of hemoptysis.
Several years of work in academia, medical practice and finally commercialization make it possible to provide an end-to-end process to help users to “find the appropriate medical help based on their present symptoms”. Below you will find a short explanation, showing you which part of the platform will help you best in finding the appropriate medical support.
Proceed as follows to enter your current symptoms.
Click on the appropriate body part on the picture. Select one/multiple symptoms corresponding to your complaint.
You can also add symptoms by typing your medical complaint in the search box and selecting the best matching suggestion.
Note: Your information will be kept anonymously.
Once you have selected all applicable symptoms, click the “analyze disease pattern”-button.
Accordingly, you will get a list of possible diseases and matching doctor categories who can further help you.
You can inform yourself about the possible diseases by reading the related information. But you can also return to the previous step and add more symptoms or delete already added ones to further narrow down your disease pattern.
Click on the desired doctor category to find a doctor who can help you.
If you are logged in with your profile, you will be displayed the appropriate doctors in your area. Otherwise you can enter an address in the “address” field and you will be displayed a doctor’s list around that specified address.
You will receive further information about the displayed doctors when you press on “details”.
Online bookable doctors in your area will be indicated with the notation “Book appointment” or “Book externally”, additionally they will be displayed on top of the list for your convenience.
Click on “Book appointment” to start the online appointment booking process with the desired doctor.
Please select an available appointment. “Green“ appointments are booked directly. “Red“ appointments need to be confirmed by the doctor.
Enter your general personal and health information.
Enter your present medical symptoms.
Enter your mobile phone number to identify yourself and you can finalize the appointment booking.
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