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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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What Causes Chronic Cough And Vomiting?

Hello, My boyfriend has these chronic coughing fits that make him cough so hard, he starts throwing up and shakes like he s seizing. He is a smoker and he says he has had these fits since he was a child. I witnessed one last night for the first time. There was blood. He said there s only been blood once before. I looked at his gums thinking theres where the blood came from but from what I could tell they weren t bleeding. Could this be the start of lung cancer? He does have family history of it. Carol
Wed, 30 Aug 2017
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  User's Response
Hi Carol,

Given that your boyfriend is a heavy smoker for a long period of time, I'd definitely be concerned that he has lung cancer. The American Cancer Society now recommends a CT scan in people who have over a 20 year pack smoking history to screen for lung cancer. Regardless, since he's having symptoms of coughing up blood, then I'd strongly recommend he get a CT scan of his chest. Some primary care physicians may try to push for an X-ray first, but I'd point them to the new cancer guidelines that recommend CT scan, which is much more sensitive than X-ray in finding cancer.

I hope I have answered your questions. Please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions or if you feel I haven't addressed your question adequately.
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What Causes Chronic Cough And Vomiting?

Hi Carol, Given that your boyfriend is a heavy smoker for a long period of time, I d definitely be concerned that he has lung cancer. The American Cancer Society now recommends a CT scan in people who have over a 20 year pack smoking history to screen for lung cancer. Regardless, since he s having symptoms of coughing up blood, then I d strongly recommend he get a CT scan of his chest. Some primary care physicians may try to push for an X-ray first, but I d point them to the new cancer guidelines that recommend CT scan, which is much more sensitive than X-ray in finding cancer. I hope I have answered your questions. Please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions or if you feel I haven t addressed your question adequately.