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Spitting blood - causes, therapy and symptoms
contents
- To vomit blood
- gastritis
- adenoids
- Sore throat and spit blood
- coughing up blood
- Hemoptysis and lung cancer
- Early recognized is half banned
- tuberculosis
- bronchitis
- bulimia
- Spit Blood: When to the doctor?
- treatment
To vomit blood
"I have the following problem. And indeed, blood forms in my mouth without my coughing. I have a sudden taste of blood in my mouth and when I spit out, the spit is blood red after spitting 2-3 times, there is no blood left, but it still makes me panic. "An Afflicted
If we vomit blood, it is often due to diseases of the mucous membranes in the stomach or esophagus, to ulcers in the stomach and duodenum or to varicose veins in the esophagus.
Ulcers in the stomach and duodenum are usually due to an inflammation of the gastric mucosa - in the jargon gastritis.
gastritis
Gastritis is very common and is either chronic or acute. Patients often do not recognize chronic gastritis because it sometimes shows no symptoms.
Such inflammation can have many causes. It arises in particular when the stomach forms too much acid. In acute gastritis, food poisoning, alcohol abuse, heavy smoking and over-the-counter medications such as acetylsalicylic acid are among the usual suspects.
Too much food or coffee in quantities overstimulate the stomach as well as exaggerated sport. The British then speak of "runner's stomach."
Stress and shock can also trigger acute gastritis.
Those affected notice that "something is wrong" with abdominal pain, vomiting with blood, nausea and loss of appetite.
In chronic gastritis, we distinguish three forms:
Type A is the rarest. It arises in the body itself - through an autoimmune process. The immune system is directed against tissue of the own body.
Twice as common is the C form of inflammation. Here, the mucosa becomes inflamed by painkillers or bile, which flows from the duodenum into the stomach.
However, eight out of ten gastritis, type C, is caused by the bacterium Helicobacter pylori.
Acute gastritis can be quickly cured by stomach-friendly nutrition and acid blockers, in chronic gastritis the treatment takes much longer, but is usually successful when the cause is eliminated.
A gastroscopy is recommended for suspected chronic inflammation, even if the person does not notice any symptoms for risk groups such as alcoholics or extreme athletes. If such a gastritis remains undetected, gastric acid has often already "eaten" the mucous membranes. The sooner it's recognized, the better.
To prevent gastritis, helps a diet that protects the stomach. So no fats in bulk, as well as spicy foods with pepper and chili in moderation - the same goes for alcohol and coffee.
Although extreme sports are harmful to the stomach, relaxation exercises such as yoga or autogenic training reduce stress - and less stress means less stomach acid.
In severe cases, gastritis may cause gastric ulcers, gastric bleeding, or even a gastric breach.
Gastritis can be detected by mucosal samples. The patient removes this during a gastroscopy.
adenoids
Gastric polyps are protuberances of mucosal cells that protrude into the interior of the stomach. They occur either individually or frequently and are usually benign. Particularly common are people from middle age.
Although these tumors are usually benign, the doctor should always remove them, because in at least 20% of the cases, they develop into stomach cancer.
Larger of these tumors betray themselves by a feeling of pressure in the upper abdomen, feeling of fullness and loss of appetite, by vomiting blood and black feces.
The polyps are globose or shaggy, they sit out or have a broad base; They range from a few millimeters in size to more than one centimeter.
Experts discuss whether Helicobacter bacteria provide them with a breeding ground, and whether a diet high in fat and low in fiber promotes them - but these are speculations.
The tumors often go unnoticed and show up only in the gastroscopy. Then, as far as possible, they are immediately removed. The doctor separates the polyp with a wire loop heated by high-frequency current and closes the wound. However, very large polyps require surgery.
If the patient was polyps in the past, it is advisable to have a gastroscopy every half year to see if they return.
Sore throat and spit blood
If there is blood in the saliva and at the same time we have a sore throat, this indicates various basic diseases. A severe cold, bronchitis or pneumonia causes blood vessels to burst in the airways. Because it is inflammation, our neck hurts, too.
Sore throat and vomiting. Picture: Picture-Factory - fotolia In addition, there are headaches, body aches, runny nose and hoarseness. Sore throat, however, is atypical for tuberculosis or lung tumors.
The blood in the saliva as a result of these diseases is bright red, but it comes from the stomach or esophagus, it assumes a nearly black color.
In the diagnosis, the doctor clarifies whether sore throat and bloody sputum causally hang together. That does not have to be. For example, we may be suffering from lung cancer and tonsillitis at the same time. If blood vessels open now because the tumor is spreading, it has nothing to do with the pain of inflamed tonsils.
If the esophagus becomes inflamed by heartburn, then the gastric juice injures the esophagus, causing bleeding.
coughing up blood
We differentiated between the coughing up of bloody mucus (haemoptysis) and the coughing out of pure blood which does not mix with mucus (hemoptysis). The blood has its origin in the respiratory tract, the bronchi, the trachea or the lung tissue.
Blood in the mucus is usually harmless. However, who aushustet pure blood, should immediately to the doctor: Mostly it is an immediate danger to life.
Hemoptysis is only a symptom and is associated with fever, shortness of breath, shortness of breath, pain in the chest, or weight loss in cancer patients. Coughing the affected people a lot of blood, then a shock can be the result, combined with rapid drop in blood pressure, cold sweat on the skin, panic attacks and even unconsciousness.
A number of diseases cause bloody sputum and hemoptysis: bronchitis, abscesses in the lungs, pulmonary tuberculosis, pneumonia, lung cancer, pulmonary metastases from other tumors, Legionnaires' disease, pulmonary hypertension, lung injuries, heart failure and heart valve defects.
So most of the disease is in the lungs and heart. Exceptions are hemophilia and a blood clotting disorder - which can also be an undesirable side effect of blood-thinning medications.
Hemoptysis and lung cancer
Lung cancer is also because of a "killer cancer", because there are hardly any early warning signs. For example, while a person affected by skin cancer soon realizes that skin discolorations are spreading, becoming dark or hurting, the person affected by lung cancer usually goes to the doctor when it is already too late.
He suffers from fever, irritable cough, at night his sweat breaks out, and when he coughs he throws out bloody secretions. In these symptoms, however, the tumor has long since proliferated and already forms metastases. In addition, the sufferer often does not take these symptoms seriously, because they are not a monopoly of lung cancer: a bronchitis and other diseases of the respiratory tract are in fact similar.
Cough of more than 3 weeks should therefore be clarified.
In advanced lung cancer, however, chest pain, acute respiratory distress and massive decline in physical performance are added. The person also loses weight and feels weak overall.
Even at this stage, however, the tumor can often not be detected in the X-ray image. A so-called "Lungenrundherd", which can be seen in the picture, could also speak for tuberculosis. It may also be a metastasis of a primary tumor located elsewhere. But also benign round herds come into consideration.
Early recognized is half banned
The chances of a cure for lung cancer are low, and one of the reasons is that it is usually recognized too late. If a doctor already diagnoses such a primary tumor, ie a very small tumor without metastases, the chance of vanquishing the cancer increases enormously.
As many as 70% of patients with lung cancer at stage 1 are cured of cancer.
Unfortunately, there are not yet any simple programs to detect early lung cancer that "standard practitioners" could use in their regular practice. The transfer to a cancer clinic with the appropriate equipment costs valuable time - and decides in lung cancer about life and death.
Particularly vulnerable people are therefore well advised to undergo a check-up without already suffering from symptoms. The main risk groups are smokers over 40 and people who have been exposed to carcinogens.
tuberculosis
"I have come to the conclusion that tuberculosis, as I have it, is not a peculiar disease, not a disease of a special name, but only a strengthening of the general germ of death, which, for the time being, can not be estimated." Franz Kafka, imminent he died of tuberculosis.
Hemoptysis can be a sign of tuberculosis. Image: Miriam Dörr - fotolia Tuberculosis (TB) is the deadliest infectious disease in the world. In 2014, 1.5 million people died globally. The causative agents are mycobacteria, which often affect the lungs. This leads to pulmonary tuberculosis.
In 1882, Robert Koch identified Mycobacterium tuberculosis as the causative agent of why the disease is also called Koch's disease. It used to be known as consumption. Not every infected person falls ill, in fact tuberculosis breaks out only every 10th to 20th. Particularly at risk are those with a general immune deficiency or a genetic disposition.
The infection is mainly on the saliva disease - by coughing. Raw milk from infected cattle is also a source of infection.
The diagnosis is made in the laboratory. When the pathogen is discovered, there is no doubt.
Tuberculosis patients lose weight, have no appetite and suffer from general fatigue. They sweat a lot during the night and sometimes have a slight fever. A typical feature of pulmonary tuberculosis is a cough, initially with little expectoration. If the disease progresses, the patients cough up blood. An emergency is the hemorrhage.
It presses bleeding from body orifices in quantities. An artery can be damaged; in pulmonary tuberculosis, a hemorrhage usually occurs in the terminal stages of the disease.
bronchitis
Bronchitis causes inflammation of the lower respiratory tract, either chronic or acute. This bronchial infection is usually preceded by a cold or flu. A bronchitis becomes chronic if those affected suffer from coughing and expectoration for at least three months in two years.
Often, viruses are responsible, but also bacteria and fungi can inflame the bronchi, chronic bronchitis, however, is usually a result of smoking, 9 out of 10 affected are smokers.
Risks of contracting from bronchitis include tobacco smoke, cold weather, polluted air and delayed upper respiratory tract infections, which then spread to the lower respiratory tract.
Bronchitis is characterized by severe coughing because the airways are blocked, great fatigue, chest pain and sputum. The expectoration consists of whitish-yellow mucus, but as the inflammation also injures the surface of the bronchi, the expectoration mixes with blood.
Those affected should absolutely avoid smoking and stay in smoking rooms; They should take care of themselves physically and drink a lot of fluids, but do not drink ice-cold drinks. Breast compressions, inhaling water vapor with chamomile extract or tapping the back help loosen the mucus.
bulimia
People who suffer from eating and vomiting put a constant strain on their intestines, their esophagus and their throat. Again and again they trigger a nausea, which causes the stomach to expel acid. Gastric acid enters the esophagus and the oral cavity and damages the surface. In addition, bulimia sufferers often suffer from gum bleeding. Gum bleeding is the result of a lack of oral hygiene, and eating and vomiting addicts can brush their teeth as often as ever. Consciously induced vomiting causes half-digested food particles to settle on the teeth and thus bacteria.
Spit Blood: When to the doctor?
If you cough blood or spit blood, you can do little yourself. He should go to the doctor quickly, if he does not know that the cause is harmless: Minor injury in the mouth and throat, cold, gum bleeding. He brings some expectoration or saliva to the doctor in a jar. In case of coughing up blood with pure blood immediately an emergency doctor must be called.
The doctor is looking for the source of the blood. To do this, he first asks for the medical history, then he taps, hears, and feels his neck, chest, and back to see if the hearth is in the esophagus, heart, or lungs. He looks into the mouth, throat and nose.
Criteria are:
Since when does the person spit or cough blood? Did he have these complaints before? What does the blood look like? Light or dark, liquid mixed with blood, foamy or slimy expectoration, it stinks?
- Other symptoms include sore throat, fever, weakness, nausea, palpitations, circulatory problems.
- comorbidities
- Activities: smoking, asbestos at work etc.
- Medicines that dilute the blood
- habits
After general examinations, the doctor determines the amount of blood loss and blood clotting, the acid value of the blood, to see if it comes from the stomach or lungs, checks the expectoration for bacteria and X-rays the ribcage. When suspected of bronchial disease, it reflects the airways.
treatment
The treatment depends on the disease. In case of heavy blood loss, the blood must first be breastfed, otherwise death can occur. If a broken wire is the cause, it can quickly become deserted. But if a stomach ulcer bursts, an operation is announced. In addition, blood infusions occur.
Gastric ulcers, mucosal lesions and cancer can be treated with medication.
If the blood loss is life-threatening, life must first be saved, only then begins the research into causes. Mild infections can be treated with antibiotics.
If the strong cough itself causes the bleeding, cough medicine is announced. Are anticoagulants the cause, if possible, anticonpressant drugs administered. (Dr. Utz Anhalt)
Specialist supervision: Barbara Schindewolf-Lensch (doctor)