why are non smokers lungs healthier than smokers
Answers
Differences Between Smoker's Lungs and Normal Healthy Lungs
To really comprehend the effect of tobacco smoke on the lungs we need to take a look at both the anatomy—how the appearance of the lungs changes, and the physiology—how the function of a smoker's lungs differ from those of healthy lungs. Yet we want to dig even deeper than that. What do a smoker's lungs look like beginning with the changes you can see with your naked eye, down to the genetic changes too small to even be seen under a microscope?
The posters we spoke of earlier didn't lie. Let's start with what you may see if you could look at whole lungs exposed to tobacco.
What Do Smoker's Lung Look Like?
The photo above is honestly what the lungs of a life-long smoker look like on a visual inspection with the naked eye. It's important to state that not all black lungs are related to tobacco smoke. Other irritants that can be inhaled may cause this appearance as well, such as the black lung disease sometimes seen in coal miners. Yet, it's very easy to tell when looking at a set of lungs whether or not a person smoked during his life.
Where does the black or brown color come from? When you inhale cigarette smoke, there are thousands of tiny carbon-based particles that are inhaled. Our bodies have a special way of dealing with these particles to get them out of the way if you will.
As soon as you inhale a puff of cigarette smoke your body is alerted to the fact that toxic particles have invaded. Inflammatory cells rush to the scene. One type of white blood cell called macrophages may be thought of as the "garbage trucks" of our immune systems.Macrophages essentially "eat" the nasty brown-black particles in cigarette smoke in a process called phagocytosis. Since these particles could be damaging even to garbage truck cells, they are walled off in tiny vesicles and stored as toxic waste. And there they sit. As more and more macrophages containing debris build up in the lungs and lymph nodes within the chest, the darker the lungs appear.
You may be wondering if the brown and black color ever goes away. After all, macrophages don't live forever. When a macrophage dies, and the vesicles of cigarette waste are released, younger macrophages rush to the scene and ingest the particles. This process can occur over and over during a person's life. This is not to say that healing doesn't take place when someone quits smoking. It does. But the discoloration in the lungs may remain.
Function of Smoker's Lungs vs Healthy Lungs (Physiology)
Just as there are many changes that occur structurally in the lungs of someone who smokes, there are several changes that take place on a functional level as well. Pulmonary function tests comparing people who smoke with those who do not smoke often show changes very early on, even in teens who smoke, and long before any symptoms occur. Some people who smoke feel reassured that if they are breathing without problems, they don't have a problem. Yet a large percent of lung tissue is usually destroyed before any symptoms occur. To understand this better, consider that people who have a whole lung removed, and are otherwise healthy, can adapt so that they can carry on a reasonably normal lifestyle.
Lung Capacity in Smoker's Lungs vs. Healthy Lungs
The total lung capacity, or the total amount of air you can breathe in taking the deepest breath possible is decreased by smoking in several ways. Smoking can result in damage to muscles in the chest reducing the expansion necessary to take a deep breath. The elasticity of the smooth muscle in the airways is likewise affected, and combined with the loss of elasticity, can limit the amount of air breathed in as well. And at a microscopic level, when fewer alveoli are present (due to destruction by cigarette smoke), or air can't reach the alveoli (due to cigarette-related damage to the airways and build up of mucus), the intake of breath is also affected. These forces all work together to decrease lung capacity.
In addition to lung capacity, smoking results in difficulty in exhaling the carbon dioxide that is transferred from the capillaries in the lungs to the alveoli. As noted above, decreased elasticity of the larger airways and decreased recoil of the alveoli leads to air trapping. This results in a decrease in forced expiratory volume.
Thankfully, researchers have noted that one of the benefits of quitting smoking that occurs after only 2 weeks is an increase in both lung capacity and expiratory volume.
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