No, as long as the phlegm is yours. It’s just that someone else’s phlegm (as well as other human fluids, like pus and semen) carries viruses and other microorganisms that can cause disease if they survive stomach acid and pancreatic enzymes. In other words: don’t go around eating someone else’s phlegm! At most, swallowing your phlegm can delay your digestion a little if it’s too much. But if you do get sick, pay attention to the color – it could indicate a problem. White phlegm is a sign of inflammation (such as sinusitis), yellowish or greenish sputum is a sign of bacterial infection and red indicates the presence of blood, which can be a sign of bronchitis, pneumonia and even lung cancer. Curiosity: phlegm is composed of 90 to 95% water, 2 to 4% mucins (gelatinous part) and 1% salts, lipids, inflammatory components, cell debris and others.
1) OVER AND UNDER
– (Ruby/Strange World)
The inside of our respiratory tract is lined with mucous membrane, which produces the slimy substance that comes out of the nose. The secretion produced in the lower airways (trachea, bronchi and lungs) is called phlegm, while that produced in the upper airways (nasal cavity, pharynx and larynx) is called coryza. The mucosa has cilia that move, carrying the mucus to the mouth
2) THROW DOWN
Our body produces 75 to 100 ml of phlegm daily. A good part is continuously swallowed by instinct and ends up in the stomach. Microorganisms that may be present, such as viruses and bacteria, are digested. And if they survived, that’s okay, because they already existed in our body before. The problem would be swallowing someone else’s phlegm, which has a different bacterial flora and could cause infections.
3) STICKY POOL
But phlegm can, yes, offer risks. If you are sick with inflammation or an infection, it can build up in your lungs, leading to other infections. A person who has frequent infections in the lungs may have bronchiectasis, a dilation of the bronchi, which in turn increases the retention of secretions, facilitating new infections and turning everything into a vicious circle.
TdF suggested – Peter Bartholomew
CONSULTANCY Iuri Filardi, gastroenterologist at the Specialty Medical Clinic in Piracicaba (SP), Fábio Abdalla, professor of cell biology and histology at UFSCar in Sorocaba (SP), Fernanda Miranda de Oliveira, pulmonologist and director of communication at the Brazilian Society of Pulmonology and Phthisiology ( SBPT), and Ricardo Barbuti, gastroenterologist at Hospital das Clínicas at USP
SOURCE Article Physiology of Airway Mucus Secretion and Pathophysiology of Hypersecretionby Duncan Rogers