Even if it is kind of gross when you're full of it and wrestling with it, phlegm actually serves a useful purpose: The thick, sludgy substance—made up of mostly water, salt, and antibodies—is designed ...

Medically reviewed by Susan Russell, MD Key Takeaways Coughing up white mucus can be a sign of an upper respiratory infection or chronic conditions like COPD. Viral infections that cause white mucus ...

Healthy phlegm is usually clear and runny, but many different health conditions can change the consistency or color. Phlegm, also called sputum, is mucus produced by your lungs that helps protect your ...

After 12 weeks of nebulized NAC, patients’ mean phlegm scores, as measured by the COPD assessment test, significantly decreased from 3.47 at baseline to 2.62. N-acetylcysteine (NAC) nebulizer therapy ...

Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on . Mucus scores included 6 for the nonbiologic group and 3 for the biologic group. Mucus scores also included 5 for ...

If you’re blowing your nose regularly, it’s hard not to notice your mucus—and what color it is. So it can also be alarming if you happen to spot yellow, brown, bloody, or green mucus in your used ...

Coughing uses muscles that also play a role in vomiting, which is why people sometimes throw up after coughing. When people cough, the aim is for air to force irritants and mucus out of the throat to ...