Patient: My throat is full of phlegm and sticky all year round. I don’t smoke myself, but I also have a lot of phlegm when others smoke, and my throat is more uncomfortable. If I eat cold drinks in summer, I have more phlegm. This phenomenon has been going on for 10 years. I don’t know what is it? How can I treat it? Li Xiaodan, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Beijing Hospital, Ministry of Health: Your symptoms belong to chronic pharyngitis. In general, all chronic inflammatory diseases are difficult to go to the root, but they can be controlled within a certain range. First of all, you need to strengthen your resistance through rest, diet and proper exercise, and prevent the aggravation of symptoms caused by cold. If unfortunately it gets worse, you need to treat it promptly by applying relevant medications and possibly antibiotics if necessary. In short, it is not easy to solve a 10-year disease in a short period of time, and it takes time to slowly improve the symptoms. If you are older, it may take even more time.