Catarrh | NHS inform

Catarrh is a build-up of mucus in an airway or cavity of the body.

It usually affects the back of the nose, the throat or the sinuses (air-filled cavities in the bones of the face).

It’s often temporary, but some people experience it for months or years. This is known as chronic catarrh.

Catarrh can be a nuisance and may be difficult to get rid of, but it’s not harmful and there are treatments available.

Symptoms associated with catarrh

Catarrh can lead to a:

• constant need to clear your throat
• feeling that your throat is blocked
• blocked or stuffy nose that you can’t clear
• runny nose
• feeling of mucus running down the back of your throat
• persistent cough
• headache or facial pain
• reduced sense of smell and taste
• crackling sensation in your ear and some temporary hearing loss

These problems can be frustrating to live with and may affect your sleep, making you feel tired.

Treatments for catarrh

Catarrh will often pass in a few days or weeks as the condition that causes it improves.

There are things you can try at home to relieve your symptoms, such as:

• avoiding things that trigger your symptoms, such as allergens or smoky places
• taking sips of cold water when you feel the need to clear your throat – constantly clearing your throat may make things worse
• using a saline nasal rinse several times a day – these can be bought from a pharmacy or made at home with half a teaspoon of salt in a pint of boiled water that’s been left to cool
• avoiding warm, dry atmospheres, such as places with air conditioning and car heating systems – placing plants or bowls of water in a room may help to keep the air humid
• staying well hydrated
• talking to a pharmacist about suitable over-the-counter medications – including decongestants, antihistamines or steroid nasal sprays

There are also several remedies, such as herbal medicines, available from health shops and pharmacies that claim to treat catarrh. Some people find these helpful, but there’s generally little scientific evidence to suggest they work.

When to see your GP

Speak to your GP if your catarrh persists and is becoming difficult to live with.

They may want to rule out conditions that could be causing it, such as nasal polyps or allergies. This may mean you need to be referred to a specialist for tests.

If you’re diagnosed with a specific underlying condition, treating it may help relieve your catarrh. For example, nasal polyps may be treated with a steroid nasal spray, or in some cases surgery. 

If a cause for you catarrh cannot be found, the self-help techniques above may be recommended. Unfortunately, however, chronic catarrh can be hard to treat and may last for a long time.

What causes catarrh?

Catarrh is usually caused by the immune system reacting to an infection or irritation, which causes the lining of your nose and throat to become swollen and produce mucus.

This can be triggered by:

• a cold or other infections
• hay fever or other types of allergic rhinitis
• non-allergic rhinitis
• nasal polyps

It’s unclear what causes chronic catarrh, but it’s not thought to be the result of an allergy or infection.

It may be related to an abnormality in the way mucus travels within the nose or an increased sensitivity to mucus in the back of the nose and throat.

Marvels of Mucus and Phlegm

August 2020

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The Slime That Keeps You Healthy

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Mucus has several names. Snot, the sticky goo that pours from your nose during a cold. Or phlegm, the gunk that can clog your lungs and make you cough. You probably aren’t a fan of the stuff. But mucus is so much more than a runny nose. Your body is making mucus all the time. And it plays an important role in keeping you healthy.

“Mucus and phlegm get sort of a bad reputation,” says Dr. Richard Boucher, a lung expert at the University of North Carolina. “People think about it as something you’re supposed to cough up and get out. That it’s a bad thing. But in truth, mucus really is the interface between you and the outside world. ”

Mucus lines the moist surfaces of your body like the lungs, sinusesThe hollow spaces in your skull around your nose, eyes, and forehead., mouth, stomach, and intestines. Even your eyes are coated with a thin layer of mucus. It serves as a lubricant to keep tissues from drying out. It’s also a line of defense.

“Mucus is very important for filtering out materials that you breathe in through your nose, such as dust and allergens and microorganisms,” says Dr. Andrew Lane, an ear, nose, and throat expert at Johns Hopkins University. “Anything that you breathe in gets stuck in the mucus, like flypaper.”

Mucus at Work

In the next hour, you’re going to inhale thousands of bacteria. But you’ll never know it. Bacteria land on the mucus-lined surface of the lungs and get trapped. Then little hairs called cilia go to work. They push the mucus up and out of the lungs with all the trapped bacteria, viruses, and dust.

“It comes up at sort of a nice slow rate to the back of the throat,” Boucher says. “And if you’re normal and healthy, you never feel it and you just swallow it.”

The mucus, together with the bacteria and other trapped substances, then goes to the stomach and eventually pass out of the body.

Your body makes a lot of mucus, although no one’s quite sure how much. Mucus is mostly water. But it also contains special proteins, sugars, and molecules that help the body control harmful germs.

Usually you’re not aware of all the mucus that slowly flows through your body. That is, until you get sick.

Too Much Mucus

You usually only notice mucus when you’re making too much of it. Or if it changes consistency.

An infection can make mucus thicker and stickier. Infections also lead to inflammationHeat, swelling, and redness caused by the body’s protective response to injury or infection. in the mucous membranes that line the nose and the rest of your airway. This can cause certain airway glandsOrgans that produce and release substances into the body. to make more mucus. That mucus can get thick with bacteria and cells that arrive to fight the infection. That can stimulate even more mucus production.

“When mucus is particularly excessive, it can be bothersome in terms of runny nose, clogged nose, and post-nasal drip,” says Dr. Bruce Bochner, an allergy expert at Northwestern University. Post-nasal drip is when excess mucus from the back of the nose gathers and drips down the back of the throat. It’s a common cause of a cough.

Allergies can also cause your body to make extra mucus. When you have an allergy, your immune systemThe system that protects your body from invading viruses, bacteria, and other microscopic threats. overreacts to a harmless substance, like pollen, dust, or animal dander. Cells in your airway then release substances, like histamine.

Histamine can make you sneeze. It also causes the mucous membranes in the nose to swell and the glands to make more mucus. Bochner’s team studies how certain proteins on immune cells control allergies and inflammation. They’re also looking at how certain components of mucus might help fight inflammation.

“There are two general types of secretions that that are made in the nose,” Bochner explains. Things like allergies, eating spicy food, and being outside in the cold can result in a more watery nasal leakage.

Your body usually makes thicker mucus when you have a cold (caused by viruses) or sinus infection (caused by bacteria).

Most mucus problems are temporary. But producing too much mucus contributes to some serious conditions. This includes cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder that causes mucus in the lungs to become thick and glue-like. Boucher and his colleagues are working to find new treatments for cystic fibrosis and related lung diseases.

Colors of Mucus

Mucus can come in a range of colors. This won’t surprise you if you’ve ever looked closely at your tissues after blowing your nose.

Mucus is normally clear. During a cold, you may find that your snot is cloudy or yellowish. Proteins released by the cells that cause inflammation can get stuck in the mucus and give it this color, Lane explains. He’s currently studying how cells in the nose and sinus are involved in long-term inflammation, called chronic sinusitis.

Brown or black mucus is more common in heavy smokers and some types of lung disease. Greenish, brownish, or bloody colors may signal a bacterial infection.

But that’s not always the case. It can be difficult to figure out what’s wrong simply by your mucus color. Since many things can cause your body to make too much mucus, doctors rely on other clues to diagnose and treat the problem.

Wonders of Mucus

While excess snot and phlegm aren’t pleasant, you wouldn’t want to go without mucus.

“Mucus creates a layer of protection between the outside world and you. So it’s very, very important,” Lane says.

It’s not just important for people. It’s also the slime that allows a snail to move across the ground. It’s the slippery coating that protects fish against bacteria in the water. “It’s a really wonderful material,” Boucher says.

But maybe your mucus isn’t feeling so marvelous. If excess mucus is getting you down, see the Wise Choices box for tips on getting rid of it.

Sputum as a diagnostic sign of respiratory diseases

What is sputum?

In a normal human condition, there is clear mucus on the mucous membrane of the bronchi and trachea, the so-called bronchotracheal secretion. It is produced by the cells of the bronchial mucosa and performs the most important protective and cleansing function, and also moisturizes the bronchi.

With the help of the ciliated epithelium located on the inner walls of the bronchi, the mucus moves towards the pharynx. Together with the mucus, microbes, dust, and dead cells that have entered the bronchi are removed. In addition, mucus is endowed with bactericidal properties due to the presence of immune cells. When pathogens enter, these cells immediately react and destroy them.

When we are healthy, we simply swallow some bronchotracheal secretion without noticing it.

When an inflammatory process develops in the respiratory organs, the amount of mucus increases sharply, pus, blood, leukocytes penetrate into it, mucous contents flow from the nose, which becomes viscous and acquires a shade. It can be green, yellow-green, rusty, brown, pink. This is the wetness.

Sputum is coughed up, in the absence of coughing it can accumulate in the throat.

The accumulation of sputum is a warning that something is wrong with the respiratory system. The color of sputum can also be used to judge the nature of the disease.

Sputum accumulates, but no cough

This may be in inflammatory diseases of the ear, nose and throat:

• rhinitis, including vasomotor
• sinusitis, 9002 7
• tonsillitis,
• pharyngitis.

Sputum can also form in a healthy person:

• when inhaling large amounts of foreign particles, e. g. in production workshops,
• when eating spicy or very hot food, due to throat irritation,
• when smoking.

Sputum is removed with a cough

Such sputum indicates pathological processes occurring in the lungs or bronchi. The cause may be inflammatory processes (bronchiectasis, pneumonia, bronchitis), tumor, allergies, congestion.

Of course, one cannot make a diagnosis based on the presence of sputum or its color, but one can draw conclusions about the nature of the disease. A thorough additional examination of the patient is necessary – sputum, blood, X-ray, MRI and CT studies.

Greenish sputum

Greenish or yellow-green sputum when coughing indicates inflammatory processes in the lungs or bronchi, including acute bronchitis and pneumonia of bacterial origin. In this case, the sputum is viscous and sticky, which is due to the presence of pus. Often, such sputum can form after a runny nose, flu. This means that a bacterial infection has joined the viral infection. As a rule, with these diseases, there is a high temperature, weakness, shortness of breath.

Greenish or yellow-green sputum is also formed during exacerbation of bronchiectasis. With this chronic pathology, the bronchi are modified and expanded, purulent processes are inherent in it.

Viscous green sputum, accompanied by nasal congestion, loss of the sense of smell, but without cough, is inherent in chronic sinusitis.

With pulmonary tuberculosis, green sputum is observed in remission.

Yellowish sputum

Such mucus is formed only during complicated bronchitis and pneumonia. With a prolonged (more than a month) persistent cough and yellowish sputum, it can be suspected that the inflammatory disease has become chronic.

The bright yellow color of sputum is characteristic of the so-called eosinophilic pneumonia, which is allergic in nature. In this case, the yellow color of sputum is due to a large number of eosinophils, which are a type of white blood cell.

Yellow sputum also occurs in smokers (“smoker’s bronchitis”), this shade is due to tar and nicotine.

Sputum with a reddish tint

Blood gives reddish tint to sputum. At times, in the sputum, you can see red strands, which can be observed with incompletely cured, prolonged pneumonia, lung abscess, incipient tuberculosis, and pleurisy. Reddish discharge is a formidable warning, in which an appeal to a specialist becomes a vital necessity.

Brownish sputum

This pattern is observed when coagulated blood penetrates the mucus. In many cases, this is a threatening sign. What is he warning about? Possible options: active tuberculosis, lung cancer, pulmonary embolism, lung gangrene. This symptom can manifest itself in chronic pneumonia and bronchitis.

There may be less serious causes of brownish sputum, for example, blood can enter the sputum from small bleeding wounds in the mouth. At times, brown sputum occurs in smokers when bronchitis progresses to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Scarlet and pink sputum

The scarlet color of sputum is due to the presence of a significant amount of blood. This is a symptom of lung cancer or pulmonary embolism.

Pink and viscous sputum is observed in the severe stage of tuberculosis. Foamy sputum may indicate pulmonary edema.

In pneumonia caused by pneumococci, sputum is pink at first and then becomes rusty.

Whitish, grayish sputum

Such mucus can also form in a healthy person. However, if its amount is large, one can think of chronic bronchitis.

Whitish sputum when coughing can also be due to allergic reactions, as well as bronchial asthma.

Greyish sputum is often seen in smokers.

Whitish or clear, somewhat frothy sputum, may be a symptom of a viral respiratory infection.

Let’s summarize: normal sputum is either absent, or it is colorless and transparent (possibly whitish), and is present in a small amount.

If the sputum is colored, it means that there are impurities, which may be purulent in nature, are bloody discharge or accumulations of cells. All this may indicate the presence of the disease. However, the nature of the pathology can be revealed only after research.

Especially dangerous is the case when sputum has reddish tints: scarlet, pink, rusty tones. Purulent greenish or yellow-green sputum indicates a bacterial purulent infection.

Sputum: causes, types, treatment – article Mediflex Homeker

Contents

Sputum is a heterogeneous substance that is secreted by the cells of the mucous membrane of the trachea and bronchi during pathological processes and disorders.

Normally, the human body secretes up to 100 ml of transparent mucus, which performs protective functions: it has bactericidal properties, moisturizes the mucous membrane, participates in metabolism and cleansing the respiratory tract from infectious agents, dust and foreign particles. This secretion does not have a strong odor and is not very viscous.

If the body is healthy, then the mucus is naturally evacuated by the vibration of the cilia of the epithelium from the bottom up to the throat for excretion. The resulting mucus does not cause coughing or discomfort, and is easily swallowed along with saliva.

With pathologies and disorders in the functioning of the body, the volume of sputum secreted may increase. A cough reflex occurs due to irritation of the mucous membrane to evacuate accumulated mucus in the lumen of the trachea and bronchi to facilitate breathing.

Sputum may be difficult to expectorate and cough may be absent, as occurs in inflammatory diseases of the nose. If sputum is not excreted from the body and accumulates in the respiratory system, this is fraught with the creation of conditions for the reproduction of viruses and bacteria, which leads to various complications.

Sputum is a diagnostic factor for pathologies of the nose and sinuses, respiratory tract, digestive system, allergies, inhalation of irritants.

Causes of sputum

Excessive mucus can be caused by infectious, inflammatory, environmental and other factors. Among the causes of sputum formation are present:

• Diseases of the nasopharynx. This includes rhinitis, sinusitis, laryngitis, pharyngitis, viral epiglottitis. Sputum flows down the back of the throat from the nose and sinuses, can make breathing difficult, cause a hoarse voice.
• Pathologies affecting the lungs and bronchi. This group of causes of sputum formation includes bronchitis, bronchial asthma, tuberculosis, inflammation and lung cancer, abscess, lung gangrene, pneumonia, bronchitis or mixed COPD, bronchiectasis, etc. This also includes pulmonary mycoses – candidiasis, aspergillosis, zygomycosis, as well as specific diseases such as pulmonary syphilis.
• Allergic reactions. The accumulation of mucus occurs in the nose and throat as a response to an irritating allergen.
• Exposure to nicotine and toxic tar. Smokers have a protective response of the body to the irritating effect of resins, which, when smoked, settle on the walls of the pharynx in the form of a sticky substance that dries up the mucous membranes. Phlegm in this case performs the function of moisturizing the throat.
• Pathologies of the gastrointestinal tract. With gastroesophageal reflux and the ejection of acid from the stomach into the esophagus, the formation of excess sputum after eating has been established.
• Psychosomatic disorders or neurotic sputum. The main cause of sputum in this case is neurosis, which leads to a constant sensation of a lump in the throat.
• Steroid exposure. The use of steroid inhalants for asthmatics can lead to the side effect of increased mucus secretion.
• Hereditary diseases and disorders such as cystic fibrosis and Kartagener’s syndrome. With such pathologies, abundant sputum production is observed due to congenital mutations of the genes responsible for the functioning of the glands and the immobility of the cilia of the epithelium.
• Hormonal changes. These include, for example, hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s disease. Violations in the production of hormones can lead to severe damage to the thyroid gland, disruption of other organs and metabolic processes. One of the consequences of hormonal pathologies is the accumulation and secretion of sputum.
• Congenital anatomical defects, such as a deviated septum, can also lead to accumulation and difficulty in clearing sputum from the body.
• Inhalation of polluted air due to poor ecology or work in a hazardous industry is fraught with increased sputum production as a protective reaction to exposure to toxic substances, and disturbances in the respiratory system lead to its accumulation and weak discharge.

Regardless of the cause, sputum requires close attention. This is an alarming symptom, with which you should contact a medical specialist for diagnosis and consultation.

Types of sputum

Depending on the cause of formation, the composition of sputum also varies, which directly affects its color, smell, consistency, and degree of transparency. A description of sputum is essential for the correct diagnosis of its formation.

The following types of sputum are distinguished:

• Serous. It is characterized by the absence of smell, the presence of abundant foam and a watery structure. Colorless or has a pinkish tint. It is observed in acute left ventricular failure, accompanied by pulmonary edema.
• Green or yellow-green. Such sputum has in its composition pus, consisting of dead cells, proteins, bacteria, remnants of damaged tissues. Occurs during inflammatory processes of the respiratory system due to bacterial infections. It has a viscous consistency and often smells of rot.
• Dark yellow or brown. Occurs in smokers and stains from cigarette tar. It can also stain from drinking coffee and chocolate.
• Black. May indicate a fungal infection or be associated with prolonged exposure to polluted air.
• White or transparent. It often indicates a reaction to allergens or adverse factors, but can also occur due to asthma, GERD, COPD, and the initial stage of lung cancer before blood vessels are affected.
• Red or pink (hemoptysis). Such sputum indicates the presence of blood in its composition. It can be a symptom of various pathologies – pharyngitis, bronchitis, lung cancer, tuberculosis, as well as erosion processes in the respiratory tract, etc. A rusty tint can be caused by pneumococci in pneumonia.
• Mucous, watery. A mucous liquid secret signals the onset of inflammation in the airways in various diseases, and can also form as an allergic reaction. Has white or transparent color.
• Thick, viscous. Viscous bronchial secretion is associated with a wide range of bronchopulmonary pathologies. It has a thick consistency, light or yellowish color. Such sputum can be secreted during an exacerbation of chronic diseases.
• Lumpy. Sputum with lumps is characteristic of mycosis and cystic fibrosis. In cystic fibrosis, the secretion secreted has a dense and thick consistency, which leads to the formation of lumps inside the bronchioles. This is fraught with segmental atelectasis of the lung.
• Fetid. A strong unpleasant odor indicates stagnant processes in the cavity formations of the lungs and the formation of pus. It has a semi-liquid consistency.

The type of sputum plays an important role in the diagnosis and determines the plan for diagnostic and therapeutic procedures.

Diagnosis of diseases that produce sputum

Diagnosis of diseases that cause sputum production is carried out by medical specialists – general practitioners or pulmonologists. Diagnostics includes a number of activities:

• Patient interview. In this case, it is important to find out how long ago the symptoms occurred, the patient’s living and working conditions, to establish or exclude the connection with smoking and the environment. The survey also includes obtaining data on the color, smell, profuseness of sputum, how often and easily it is separated, how long the cough is.
• Physical examination with auscultation reveals the presence of rales in the lungs and their character – moist, dry, wheezing. This, in turn, gives reason to assume infiltration of the lung tissue, pneumonia, bronchial obstruction.
• Imaging techniques include lung x-ray, chest CT and MRI, pleural x-ray and ultrasound.
• Endoscopic techniques involve bronchoscopy to examine the lining of the bronchi and trachea. A biopsy of the bronchial wall, fibrogastroscopy to rule out GERD, and rhinoscopy to rule out diseases of the nasopharynx may be indicated.
• Laboratory tests include peripheral blood tests to obtain information about inflammatory processes. Microscopic examination of sputum is also carried out to assess its properties and study its composition, and bacterial culture to detect the causative agent of the infection and its sensitivity to antibiotics.
• Also, in some cases, specific tests may be indicated – spirometry, body plethysmography, allergy diagnostics, genetic tests, Mantoux test, diaskin and quantiferon tests, etc.

  How to get rid of sputum

  It should be remembered that therapy requires the underlying disease that causes sputum. It is the elimination of the cause that caused sputum that will allow you to get rid of the most excess secret.

  Therapy depends on the nature of the pathological process or disorder, which is established during the diagnosis, as well as on the stage of the course of the disease, comorbidities, complications and characteristics of the patient. All treatment measures must be prescribed by a doctor.

  For better sputum discharge, you should drink more warm fluid to thin the sputum and better evacuate it. It is also important to humidify the air to prevent the larynx from drying out and the mucus to thicken. Avoid exposure to toxic irritants – paint fumes, tobacco smoke, chemicals. Reducing alcohol and caffeine intake will be helpful. If the cause of sputum production is gastroesophageal reflux, foods that increase the production of gastric juice should be excluded from the diet.

  Conservative therapy involves the use of drugs that are selected strictly by the medical specialist conducting the treatment. As a rule, such drugs belong to the groups of mucolytics, mucoregulators, expectorants, bronchodilators. With an established bacterial infection, antibiotics are indicated, for fungal diseases – antifungal agents, for tuberculosis – combinations of anti-tuberculosis drugs. Malignant tumors require the use of antitumor agents.

  Inhalations with aerosols of medicines, essential oils, nasal rinsing with special solutions for pathologies of the nasopharynx are also useful.

  Common recommendation for exercise therapy, breathing exercises, chest percussion and postural drainage.

  Surgical treatment includes segmental resections, lobectomy, bilobectomy and pulmonectomy. These operations are indicated for patients with abundant purulent sputum and lung tumors. With pyothorax, drainage of the pleural cavity is performed.

  Instrumental methods to improve sputum evacuation and removal are also common today. To do this, expectorators are used – high-tech devices that help liquefy and move sputum into large airways for coughing. To do this, such devices create alternately positive and negative airway pressure, intermittently supply small volumes of air at high speed (percussion), or have a vibrational effect on the chest through special belts and vests.

  After using the expectorant, the aspirator is used, another innovative tool for removing (suction) sputum from the respiratory tract by creating a vacuum. Sputum to be removed may accumulate in the throat, nasal and oral cavities, and lower respiratory tract. For its suction together with an aspirator, catheters of various diameters are used.

  1. Bisenova N.M., Ergalieva A.S. Microbial spectrum of sputum of patients with progressive respiratory diseases // Clinical Medicine of Kazakhstan. 2014. No. 3 (33). pp. 17-21.
  2. Bisenova N.M., Mitus N.M., Tuleubaeva E.A., Ergalieva A.S., Kuanyshbekova A.B., Kamaeva A.A., Taishikova R.T. Comparative analysis of sputum microflora of patients with respiratory infections // Clinical Medicine of Kazakhstan.