A member asked:

Hi i have been coughing up brown phlegm for a few weeks i am a smoker aged 27. chest xray clear. no fever. any ideas?

A doctor has provided 1 answer

Coughing smoker: Stop smoking. Am sure you have been told that many times. Cigarette smoke paralyzes the cilia (tiny hairs) on the surface of cells lining the trachea and bronchi and other areas of the upper respiratory tract. This inhibits normal defense mechanisms to infection which would help to clear those airways, and so inflammatory materials accumulate and must be coughed out. And there are greater risks.

Answered 11/27/2017

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Thank

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