t’s well known that smoking harms the lungs. But what you may not know is that it also causes or makes more severe many other respiratory conditions such as emphysema and lung cancer.
Tobacco smoke contains 7,000 chemicals including nicotine and 70 known carcinogens. It bathes the delicate lining of your lungs with a toxic fog.
1. Emphysema
Emphysema is one of the long-term lung conditions that make up chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). It affects the walls of the tiny air sacs in the lungs, which can stretch but cannot shrink as they take in oxygen and release carbon dioxide. This makes it hard to breathe.
Cigarette smoke destroys the lung tissue that holds the air sacs together, and it also irritates and damages the lungs’ cilia, which help clear the airways of mucus. This causes a persistent cough, shortness of breath and fatigue, and an increased risk of infections such as pneumonia and bronchitis.
It’s possible to slow the progression of emphysema by not smoking and staying away from other lung irritants, such as secondhand smoke, chemical fumes and dust. Treatment includes medications to help open the airways, reduce inflammation and improve oxygen flow, such as inhaled steroids. Oxygen therapy, in which a person breathes in oxygen from a portable cylinder, can be used for severe cases.
2. Lung cancer
Smoking harms almost every organ in the body, including the lungs. Along with nicotine, tobacco smoke contains more than 70 cancer-causing chemicals. Cancers caused by smoking include emphysema, lung cancer, and chronic bronchitis. These diseases and other complications of smoking can cause serious illness and death.
Respiratory impact of smoking is the leading cause of cancer-related death in men and women worldwide, and about 85% of cases are related to smoking. Smoking also increases the risk of getting other types of cancers and can lead to secondary tumors in the lungs or elsewhere in the body.
The lungs are a tree-like series of connected tubes with thick, spongy lobes that expand and inflate when we breathe. Air enters the lungs through the trachea and then branches out into a network of smaller tubes called bronchi and bronchioles before entering a system of tiny air sacs called alveoli. The lungs perform an important role in delivering oxygen to all parts of the body.
3. Asthma
Smoking harms people with asthma by making their airways swollen, narrow, and filled with sticky mucus. It also causes flare-ups (attacks) to happen more often and make them worse. Smoking can undo the effect of medicines that help keep asthma under control, too.
Research has shown that people who smoke have poorer asthma control than those who don’t. They have more absenteeism from school or work because of symptoms; use more rescue medications, which can cause side effects; and have lower quality of life than non-smokers.
Studies have found that heavy smokers have more obstructive impairment on plethysmography and less functional residual capacity, and that they have a steroid-insensitive profile with high FeNO and low blood eosinophil counts. Moreover, they have a greater prevalence of comorbidities, including perennial rhinitis and chronic sinusitis, coronary heart disease and arrhythmias, and diabetes mellitus. In addition, they are more likely to be women than light and never smokers. These findings suggest that it is important to recommend smoking cessation advice to asthma patients who are still smoking.
4. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
The lungs are important organs that take in air to help the body work properly. They help us breathe, and they protect the rest of the body by removing wastes such as carbon dioxide.
Smoking causes damage to the lungs and makes it harder for people to breathe. It is a major cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which includes conditions such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
In COPD, the lining of the airways becomes swollen and inflamed, and it produces more mucus. These changes can cause the airways to become narrow and trap phlegm, making breathing difficult.
Cigarette smoke damages cells that line the lungs, and it can destroy the tiny hairs that line the lungs (cilia). This may help explain why people who smoke have an increased risk of developing COPD.
If you are a smoker and develop any lung-related symptoms, seek medical attention right away. Early diagnosis and treatment can help you control your symptoms, stay out of hospital and live longer.
