Smoking is detrimental for our health, we all know it and still more than 38 million US citizens smoke regularly, the CDC says. It wreaks havoc on our entire body, but the lungs are the organs that suffer the most. Smoking causes a million health complications and if you still smoke despite everything here’s what it does to your lungs.
Smoking Destroys Your Lungs and Endangers Your Health
The National Health Service warns that smoking poses a serious health risks and disrupts a number of bodily functions.
Smoking cigarettes every day weakens your immune system and increases your risk of colds and coughs. Moreover, smoking leads to a number of fatal diseases, including pneumonia, emphysema and lung cancer. It’s the number one cause of lung cancer – related deaths (84%) and COPD deaths (83%).
Smoking every day destroys the lung tissue and narrows the airways, causing breathing difficulties. Smokers are prone to developing respiratory diseases like COPD, which is accompanied by shortness of breath, frequent chest infections and chronic coughs.
Aside from lung cancer, smokers are at a higher risk of developing throat and mouth cancer. It’s the leading cause of oropharyngeal cancer. Smoking also causes permanent and irreversible damage to the air sacs (alveoli).
As you probably know smokers are more prone to infections and colds than non-smokers. The reason behind this is the fact that smoking damages the tiny hairs in their pathways (cilia). The cilia are responsible for eliminating the dirt and mucus from the lungs and keep them healthy. If these tiny hairs are damaged or destroyed, the lungs are more susceptible to infections.
But it’s not just lung diseases, smokers have a higher rate of mortality from other diseases as well. Heart problems are also more common in people who smoke regularly, compared to those who don’t.
Now that we’ve covered all the health risks associated with smoking we’ll show you how your lungs will look in 20 years if you continue to smoke.
The Difference Between a Smokers’ and Non-Smokers’ Lungs
One nurse from North Carolina, Amanda Eller, wanted to share with the general public the difference between the lungs of a smoker and a non-smoker. She uploaded videos on Facebook where you can clearly see how the lungs of a smoker look, compared to those of a non-smoker. In another video she shows how air passes through the smokers and non-smokers lungs. We believe you’ll have no problem telling which lungs belong to the smoker and which to the non-smoker. We’ll give you a hint, the pinky, healthy ones are the lungs of a person who’s never smoked.
Here are the videos she uploaded so you can see the difference for yourself.
As you can see the non-smokers’ lungs expand normally after air is pumped into them. Meanwhile the smokers’ lungs hardly expand at all.
Smoking is inherently bad for your health and if you’re a smoker seek help and quit this nasty habit. It’s not just a bad habit, it’s something that will cause life-long health complications and possibly have life-threatening consequences.
