I spit out blood, what happened?

Don’t think that vomiting blood is necessarily related to a terminal illness. In fact, vomiting blood may be related to the digestive system. There may be problems with the digestive system or bronchitis, which are all reasons that can cause vomiting blood. Vomiting blood does not necessarily mean you have a terminal illness, because many terminal illnesses will not have such obvious symptoms at the beginning, but only some mild symptoms.

There are four main diseases that cause upper gastrointestinal bleeding. The most common is gastroduodenal ulcer. About 50% of patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding are caused by gastroduodenal ulcer. Rupture and bleeding of esophageal varices caused by liver cirrhosis account for about 25%.

Drinking large amounts of alcohol or taking certain drugs such as hormones (such as prednisone) or antipyretic analgesics (such as aspirin, indomethacin, ibuprofen, etc.) for a long time can easily cause erosion of the gastric and duodenal mucosa, induce gastric and duodenal ulcers, and be complicated by upper gastrointestinal bleeding.

In addition, gastric cancer is also a common disease that causes upper gastrointestinal bleeding. Middle-aged and elderly people with upper gastrointestinal bleeding, especially those with stomach problems accompanied by chronic anemia, should be alert to the possibility of gastric cancer. Generally speaking, upper gastrointestinal bleeding in young people is mostly caused by gastric and duodenal ulcers. In addition to gastric and duodenal ulcers, gastric cancer factors should also be considered in middle-aged and elderly people.

The main symptoms of patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding are vomiting blood and black stools. If the bleeding is heavy and rapid, it may manifest as vomiting blood; if the bleeding is light and slow, it may manifest as black stools. Patients with hematemesis will have black stools within a few days after vomiting the blood. The color of vomited blood can be brown, dark red or bright red depending on the amount of bleeding, the rate of bleeding and the time it stays in the stomach. Vomiting blood is often preceded by nausea and discomfort in the upper abdomen (commonly known as the pit of the stomach). Vomiting a lot of blood and accompanied by severe shock symptoms such as dizziness, palpitations, thirst, cold sweats, and fainting is a sign of massive upper gastrointestinal bleeding and the condition is quite serious.

For patients with recurrent gastric and duodenal ulcers or bleeding complications, in addition to the eradication of Helicobacter pylori, maintenance treatment is an important treatment measure to prevent recurrence. This maintenance treatment is mainly based on H2 receptor antagonists (such as Tagamet, Ranitidine, Famotidine). Currently, half of the standard dose is taken at bedtime. The duration of maintenance treatment should be determined according to the condition of the disease, ranging from 3-6 months to 1 or 2 years, or even longer.

Hemoptysis refers to bleeding in the respiratory tract below the larynx, which is coughed up through the mouth. Hemoptysis is usually accompanied by coughing. Blood in sputum or coughing up blood is called hemoptysis. Patients with severe hemoptysis may sometimes suffocate due to blood clots blocking the trachea.