Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death. Worldwide, tobacco use causes nearly 6 million deaths per year, and current trends show that tobacco use will cause more than 8 million deaths annually, Lung diseases caused by smoking include COPD, which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis and Lung Cancer also.
The biggest impact smoking has on lungs is the damage done to the cilia. Cilia are tiny, hair-like protrusions in your lungs and respiratory tract that move back and forth as you breathe, to keep out foreign material or contagion. The images show cilia in healthy lungs. When you smoke, the cilia are destroyed, and you are unable to protect yourself against the contaminants and contagions you inhale. Cilia also help to move mucus through the lungs. Without cilia, many smokers develop a chronic cough, which is an attempt to move mucus from the lungs that the cilia would normally be moving.
What are Cilia?
The cilia are microscopic hair-like projections on specialized cells lining the tracts inside the body called the epithelial cells. As they do in the digestive and reproductive systems, the cilia are found covering most of your airways. Although they are smaller than 1/100th mm in length, they are crucial for the proper functioning of the lungs; patients born with a condition which prevents their cilia from working suffer from severe breathing problems and constant infections.
The Importance of Cilia
Each day, you breathe in and out 20,000 times and the air around you contains dust and other airborne particles that would be harmful if they were allowed to accumulate in the lungs. The cilia secrete a sticky mucus, which traps these particles and prevents them from settling in the airways. As well as this, the cilia move backward and forwards in a coordinated wave-like motion to move the mucus out of the lungs. This ordinarily keeps the lungs clean and free from infection.
Smoking Impairs the Cilia
According to the American Lung Association, tobacco smoke contains 250 known harmful chemicals; some of these are toxic to the cilia, resulting in their paralysis and an inability to produce mucus effectively. Without this filter, the potentially irritating impurities from the air remain in the airways and this can cause infection. Experts have long agreed that this is one of the reasons that smokers experience a higher incidence of pulmonary infection.
After 72 Hours
If you smoke, there is good news. The human body is a healing machine. If you quit while you are healthy, your body can heal from most or all of the damage done by smoking. Within 72 hours of quitting, your lungs begin repairing themselves, and you will probably start breathing easier and better, as the bronchial tubes in your lungs begin to relax.
2 Weeks to 9 Months
Between 2 weeks and 3 months after quitting, your circulation improves, and your lung function increases by 30 percent. Your lung function will continue to improve over 9 months as the cilia begin to regrow. By 9 months, smoking-related coughing, congestion and shortness of breath should slow and cease.
After 1 Year
If you can quit for a year, your risk of coronary heart disease will drop to half what it was when you were smoking. After 5 years, your risk of stroke will go down to that of a nonsmoker. After 10 years, your risk of lung cancer will go down by half, and your risk of other smoking-related cancers, like those of the mouth, throat and esophagus, will also decline.
Simple ways for Quick Recovery
During the first 9 months, a few strategies can help your lungs recover, especially as you begin to cough up mucus and material from your lungs. Eat right. Get adequate sleep and moderate exercise. Drink at least 1 litre of water a day to thin out the mucus. Using a facial steamer or breathing in a steamy shower will help. Boil a pot of water and place it on a table where you can sit with your head over it. Drape a towel over your head to breathe in the steam. Use a device such as PowerBreathe or the RespiVest, to increase your lung performance, even if you have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Smoking Effect Smoking Contribute to COPD - cause of 90% of deaths
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