In as little as a month, a person's lung function begins to improve. As the lungs heal and lung capacity improves, ex-smokers may notice less coughing and shortness of breath. Athletic endurance increases and ex-smokers may notice a renewed capacity for cardiovascular activities, such as running and jumping. The lungs have an almost magical ability to repair some of the damage caused by smoking, but only if you quit, scientists say.
In general, some of the short-term inflammatory changes in the lungs can be reversed when you stop smoking, Edelman says. In other words, inflammation decreases on the surface of the lungs and airways, and lung cells produce less mucus, he said. New cilia can grow, which better clear mucus secretions, he added. After quitting smoking, the lungs slowly begin to heal and regenerate.
The speed at which they heal depends on how long you have smoked and how much damage there is. Your lungs start to heal immediately when you stop smoking. If you are a smoker, understand that you can potentially reverse years of tobacco damage by quitting today. Tens of millions of Americans have quit smoking cigarettes.
The benefits of quitting, whatever your age, are prodigious. The risk of heart disease and stroke plummets. So does the risk of lung cancer, as well as cancers of the mouth, throat, bladder, cervix and pancreas. But can the damage caused by smoking be completely eliminated? Norman Edelman, medical director of the American Lung Association, explains.
Of course, the way people react to cigarette smoke varies enormously. Everybody has a 90-year-old uncle who has smoked all his life and is fine. And everyone has a 45-year-old cousin who is dying of emphysema. These two people have reacted to cigarette smoke differently.
It is an important scientific question to understand what the differences are, and we are starting to work on that. Genetics seems to play a role. It is important to note that although this group of patients had immediate relief of symptoms, they did not see any change in their overall lung health after quitting vaping. Lung tissue can become inflamed and scarred by smoking, so the lungs lose elasticity and can no longer exchange oxygen effectively.
Smoking increases the risk of lung problems such as emphysema, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer. Other effects, such as the risk of developing lung cancer, heart disease and lung disease, take years to decline to the levels of a non-smoker. The American Lung Association recommends that you test your home for radon, a toxic gas that can cause lung cancer. While there is no quick fix to get your lungs back to the way they were before you started smoking, there are things you can do to help your lungs repair themselves after smoking your last cigarette.
Emphysema is a disease in which the walls of the thin air sacs of the lung, the place where the lung does its business of exchanging oxygen for carbon dioxide, break down. The lungs begin to heal immediately after quitting smoking, so quitting smoking as soon as possible can improve overall health. Once a person's lungs are damaged to the point of emphysema, the walls of the airways lose their shape and elasticity, making it difficult to expel all the air from the lungs. Cigarette smoke can have wide-ranging effects on the health of the body, and the lungs and airways are two of the areas most affected.
Fortunately, the lungs are remarkably good at cleaning and repairing themselves in some situations, and there are steps you can take to keep your lungs as healthy as possible. Dust, pollen, mould and pet dander are some of the many irritants that contribute to poor breathing and lung health. Warm drinks can help thin mucus in the lungs so that it can be cleared more easily. Lung damage and impaired lung function are directly related to the number of packets of cigarettes a person smokes per day multiplied by the number of years they have smoked, a measure known as pack-years, Edelman said.
