Phlegm, in people's impression is a dirty thing, who want to spit anywhere, even noble phlegm, is not welcome. However, phlegm is a good helper in diagnosing diseases. What kind of disease a person has can be known from the phlegm the person spits out. If we can observe carefully, we can tell from the color and consistency of the phlegm what kind of disease the spitter is suffering from just by looking at it with the naked eye. This empirical common sense can help us to diagnose ourselves and our family members, which is conducive to the timely treatment of patients.

◇The sputum with blood, if not caused by oral trauma, is most likely tuberculosis.

◇Jam-colored sputum, mostly from lung tumors, even if the concentration is small, the condition is serious.

◇Rust-colored sputum indicates that the spitter may have lobar pneumonia.

◇Yellow or green colored sputum indicates that the spitter has suppurative inflammation.

◇Pink sputum that is foamy in color is the secretion of patients with pulmonary edema.

◇Gray or black sputum, which is deposited with iron, charcoal or dust, indicates the effect of environmental pollution on people. People who spit this kind of sputum are often patients with certain related occupational diseases.

◇White sticky sputum indicates slight inflammation of the respiratory tract. People who spit this kind of phlegm are often patients with colds.