How does cigarette smoke affect the lungs?
Damage to the lungs begins early in smokers, and all cigarette smokers have a lower level of lung function than non-smokers. This continues to worsen as long as the person smokes. Cigarette smoking causes many lung diseases that can be just as dangerous as lung cancer. Chronic Bronchitis Chronic bronchitis is a disease where the airways produce too much mucus, forcing the smoker to cough it out. It is a common problem for smokers. The lungs start to produce large amounts of mucus more and more of the time. The airways become inflamed (swollen) and the cough becomes chronic — it doesn’t get better or go away. Airways get blocked by scars and mucus. Serious infections can also result. Emphysema Cigarette smoking is also the major cause of emphysema — a disease that slowly destroys a person’s ability to breathe. Oxygen reaches the blood by moving across a large surface area in the lungs. Normally, thousands of tiny sacs make up this surface area. With emphysema, the walls between the sa
