What is "hemoptysis"?

What is "hemoptysis"?

The importance of hemoptysis, which is the medical term for coughing up blood, coughing up blood should signal to a person that there is something going on that is inappropriate in their lungs. It is never proper to cough up blood, but you've got to make sure it's coming from the lung. For instance, you can have a nosebleed that will allow blood to trickle down the back of your throat and you give a cough, and for all the world you think it's coming from your lungs when it's not - it's coming from your nose. You can have bleeding in your esophagus that would come up, and then you would cough and you would think it was coming from your lungs, but even that's abnormal. Hemoptysis - coughing up blood - can signal a pulmonary embolism. It can be an early sign of a cancer of the lung. If it's blood clots and old, dry blood that's one thing. But, what you've really got to worry about is the bright, red, brisk blood that comes up. In chronic and acute bronchitis you can cough up blood that is mixed in with the mucus, little strings of it, and that's not so bad. But other forms of hemoptysis can be really a difficult issue and you need to be concerned about that and seek medical help whenever you see that.