Male with chronic cough and mucous.

[AndreaLauren]

My boyfriend, who is 21 years old, has a chronic cough, sometimes accompanied by thick mucous. This morning he coughed up a large amount of mucous with a little blood in it. The sputum is very sticky and looks like a giant glob of petroleum jelly - he says this is normal, but my own sputum (which only occurs when I am sick) is not so thick or gel-like. He said that his throat and chest felt better after coughing up the mucous. He has been smoking since he was 13, and I am worried that he might have a serious condition.

Thanks in advance for your help!

[National Jewish Health]

You are right to be concerned about the blood in your boyfriend’s sputum.  Coughing up blood is definitely abnormal, under any circumstance.  Given his age and long smoking history, the blood was probably due to his having chronic bronchitis.  If so, that would be serious now and, even more so, later in life.  This blood should be considered serious and, at a minimum, he should see his doctor and have a chest x-ray.

[lisa207]

hi sorry not got a lot of advice for you but i would make an apointment for him to see the doctor and take a sample of the thick mucus and get it analized and go from there hope he gets it sorted out good luck