bloody sputum

[laurmarq]

should there be major alarm if blood is appearing in my phlegm?

[National Jewish]

Whether you should be alarmed has to do with the answers to several questions.
1. How much blood is in the sputum? Is it just flecks, lots of blood?
2. How much is being produced over a day?
3. How long has this been going on? Is it a day, a week, and a month?
4. Is there an infection present? A Cold, a sinus infection, pneumonia?
5. Do you smoke?

These are a good start to making a determination if this is a problem to be addressed immediately or not a real problem.  If you have concerns, you should contact your doctor with answers to these questions ready.

[RTFLY]

Hi...blood in the sputum can be caused by coughing to hard to something like an infection, acute or chronic disease processes or even tuberculosis. That is not too alarm you but to just compare what may cause blood in the sputum. The question is how long has this blood been appearing? Have you had a chest cold or infection lately? Are you a smoker? Obviously, if it is causing you alarm then you may want to seek your physicians advice, for it is the doctor who can best diagnose what the problem may be. Good luck and take care...
                                         JCI, RRT RCP