Your body constantly needs oxygen to stay alive. It also needs to dispose of carbon dioxide, a waste product of
metabolism. This exchange of gases takes place in your lungs. Inhaling smoke exposes your lungs to many
poisonous toxins. To protect themselves, the lungs produce alot of phlegm to get rid of these toxins. Also, there is
less absorption of oxygen in the lungs, therefore, less oxygen being delivered to your body.
The main airway, the bronchus, that leads into each lung divides into many smaller and smaller airways. These
tubes are called bronchioles. At the end of each bronchiole is a cluster of airsacs called alveoli. There are millions
of alveoli in each lung. This is where the air exchange takes place.
Smoking causes many different types of damage to the lungs. In emphysema, the alveoli become damaged.
Healthy lungs have an elastic, spongy texture so that they can contract and expand fully. From long term exposure
to smoke, the alveoli become stretched or ruptured and the elasticity of the lungs it gradually destroyed. The main
symptom of emphysema is shortness of breath, which worsens over time. Eventually, the chest will expand into a
barrel like shape.
Chronic bronchitis is the inflammation of the bronchi, the main airways. This inflammation persists and becomes
worse as long as the exposure to smoke continues. This is an extremely dangerous disease, because in the long,
early stage, it is hard to detect. The bronchi and bronchioles thicken and distort the lining of the tubes.
The first symptom of chronic bronchitis is a morning cough that brings up phlegm or sputum. Over the years, the
amount of phlegm increases and the coughing continues all day. Breathlessness and wheezing are also symptoms.
During the early stages, only bad colds or influenza can cause flare-ups. Later on, even minor head colds can bring
on a severe attack.
Lung cancer starts with the constant irritation of smoke on the lining of the bronchi. These hair-like cilia which
filter air disappear from the lining and a mucous takes its place. This mucous is trapped and is forced out of the
lungs by "smokers cough." If a smoker quits smoking before cancerous cells are present, the bronchial lining can
repair itself. If the abnormal cell growth has begun, the cancer will spread, blocking the bronchi and attacking
other lung tissue. As the cancer progresses, the abnormal cells break loose from the lung and are taken by the
lymphatic system to other vital organs, where new cancers begin.
