It could be a lot of things - from throat irritation from coughing, to
nasal/ sinus problems, to bronchitis, to cancer.

See your doctor.

I had a really bad flu about a month ago and was coughing a lot.
There
were traces of blood in the spit about 2 times out of 20 I would
spit.
Now, I have the same symptoms my throat hurts, have green stuff, and
some traces of blood about 1 out 10 times I spit. Is this due to the
flu or could it be something else. <<

Blood in cough is always a bad sign ..

World First Medical Treatment Announced For "Idiopathic Pulmonary
Haemosiderosis"
Main Category: Respiratory / Asthma News
Article Date: 01 Jun 2007 - 1:00 PDT

Researchers at Queen Mary University London and the University of
Leicester have announced a potential breakthrough in the treatment of
a rare but devastating medical condition that can affect children and
young people.

In a world first, the clinicians and scientists from the two
universities have already treated one patient with promising results.
Their preliminary data are published as a letter in the New England
Journal of Medicine.

This is the first time research into a condition known as "idiopathic
pulmonary haemosiderosis" has investigated the role of 'oxidative
stress' and it is also the first time treatment has been carried out
based on the research.

Queen Mary University London and the University of Leicester have
combined world-class expertise in Child Health, Pulmonary Disease and
Oxidative Stress research, plus access to patients with this rare
disease. This combination of factors is unique to this collaboration.

Jonathan Grigg, Professor of Paediatric Respiratory and Environmental
Medicine at Queen Mary University London, said: "Idiopathic pulmonary
haemosiderosis is a rare disease, the cause of which is unknown.

"Affected patients have episodes of bleeding in the lungs, which
often
need hospital admissions, and in some cases it can be life
threatening. This is normally combated by the use of continuous oral
steroids (which can have major side effects).

"In a child local to Leicester, we were able to show, for the first
time, that there was high levels of oxidative stress in the lungs. In
addition, we treated the increased oxidative stress by using of an
antioxidant, N-acetyl cysteine - which has no side effects. Since she
has been on this treatment she has had no lung bleeds, and the
steroid
dose has been significantly reduced."

Dr Marcus Cooke, Senior lecturer in the Radiation and Oxidative
Stress
Section at the University of Leicester, added: "It is a really good
feeling to be involved in a project looking at oxidative stress, that
can make such an enormous difference to a person's quality of life.

"I think that we will see an increasing use of biomarkers of
oxidative
stress to support clinical decisions."

Dr Cooke said that idiopathic pulmonary haemosiderosis is a
devastating condition. Characteristic of this condition is the
accumulation of protein-bound iron in the lungs, a consequence of
repeated bleeding in the lungs, coupled with inflammation and
fibrosis. Ultimately this condition is usually fatal. Treatment to
prevent the lung damage and prevent anaemia is a combination of
corticosteroids and iron supplement.

Both chronic inflammation, and the presence of iron, released
following bleeding into the lungs, can lead to a condition known as
oxidative stress. Oxidative stress occurs when the production of free
radicals, highly reactive chemicals, outweighs antioxidant defences.
This leads to a great deal of damage to cells, and in particular DNA,
the cell's 'blueprint', and is likely to be responsible for the
fibrosis, as the lungs try to repair the damage done by free
radicals.

"In order to establish whether oxidative stress was indeed associated
with episodes of bleeding into the lungs, we measured a biomarker of
oxidative stress, and a marker of damage to DNA specifically, in
urine.

"We noted that levels of oxidative stress increased significantly
following every bleed. With this in mind, and on the basis that
antioxidants can potentially boost the body's natural defences, we
began the patient on a course of the antioxidant drug N-acetyl
cysteine. Five months into antioxidant therapy, the patient remains
clinically well, and on a reduced dose of corticosteroids."

###

For more information, please contact:
Prof. Jonathan Grigg
Professor of Paediatric Respiratory and Environmental Medicine
Institute of Cell and Molecular Science, Queen Mary University London

Contact: Dr. Marcus Cooke
University of Leicester

Who loves ya.
Tom

Jesus Was A Vegetarian!
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