5 Things that Smoking Does to Your Lungs and Respiratory System

Every time you puff a cigarette, thousands of chemicals and carcinogens enter your body through your respiratory organs. Nicotine, carbon monoxide, tar, and other harmful chemicals affect your body in many ways. And if there are organs that greatly suffer every time you smoke – they are your lungs. Your lungs are not designed to process smoke as a result it bears the harmful effects of smoking. So what exactly happens when you ingest cigarette smoke?

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Your throat becomes irritated and the cilia are paralyzed. The first thing that happens when you ingest cigarette smoke is your nose and throat becomes irritated. Smoking paralyzes and kills the tiny hairs found in your airways – the cilia. These are your body’s natural sweepers, its first line of defense. They prevent foreign objects from entering your body and clean them before they can cause any harm to your body. But when you smoke, the chemicals found in tobacco smoke are so strong that it paralyzes and kills your cilia. When this happens, they cannot do their job – they can’t sweep. Now the foreign objects are free to enter your body and cause infection. When you sleep in the night, the paralyzed cilia wakes up and try to clean your airways, they work hard to clean those foreign objects that get into you airways while you’re smoking. You wake up coughing because your cilia are doing their job. But the first cigarette for the day paralyzes these poor workers again, so the coughing seizes.

Your alveoli are greatly damaged. When the cigarette smoke reaches your lungs it enters your air sacs. Inside these tiny air sacs are floating scavenger cells called alveoli. They are responsible for cleaning and removing any foreign particles that have reached your lungs. Tar and other harmful chemicals found in cigarette smoke impair your alveoli. Only 30% of tar that reaches your lungs is expelled when you exhale. The remaining 70% stick to your airways and your lungs, which gives your alveoli and cilia a hard time.

Your airways suffer from swelling. Now, with your cilia and alveoli paralyzed and damaged, your airways are left defenseless and get easily infected. Aside from the fact that your airways already suffered from the chemicals from the cigarette smoke, foreign objects can freely enter your body and cause the infection. They also experience persistent coughing and sore throat.

Your lung tissues are damaged.  Nicotine, tar, and other chemicals found in tobacco cause great damage to your lung tissues. Without the alveoli to clean your air sacs, the air sacs becomes full of tar and other foreign particles, which eventually results to the death of these air sacs. The more you smoke, the more air sacs are damaged and more lung tissues die. With your lung tissues damaged, your lung’s capacity to deliver oxygen is greatly affected.

DID YOU KNOW?

Nicotine, tar, and other chemicals found in tobacco cause great damage to your lung tissues. The more you smoke, the more damaged and more lung tissues die. With your lung tissues damaged, your lung’s capacity to deliver oxygen is greatly affected. As a result, there is a reduced oxygen flow in your body. Your lungs also age faster. This means your lungs’ capability to regenerate and heal itself is also greatly impaired because of smoking.

As a result, there is a reduced oxygen flow in your body. Your lungs also age faster. This means your lungs’ capability to regenerate and heal itself is also greatly impaired because of smoking.

Your lungs and airways become full of mucus.  Now, the dead cells (cilia, alveoli, and other cells) together with some of the chemicals and foreign particles become a waste material – the mucus. Now, with your cilia and alveoli greatly damaged, your body finds it hard to remove or expel these waste materials in the form of mucus. As a result your airways and lungs become full and clogged with mucus. With the mucus trapped in your airways, you are in constant threat of infection which can further worsen your lungs’ condition. This may lead to pneumonia and other respiratory diseases.

Because your body is not designed to process smoke and it has no use to it, it greatly suffers every time you light a cigarette and sooner or later, your body will not be able to hold and it will succumb to your abusive habit. And before you know it, you’ll learn what cancer, cardio vascular disease, or pneumonia is in a hard way. Quit smoking now while you still can and have the time.

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