Every time I post about my success in quitting smoking, you always have that one person thats a downer... I dont have COPD, I dont have emphysema, I dont have chronic bronchitis, so yes my lungs can be repaired in time...I am proud of what I have accomplished and I dont need any negative comments... Is the Damage from Smoking Permanent? Q: Does your body fully heal after quitting smoking? A: When you quit smoking, the inflammation in the airways goes down. The little hair-like projections in the airways that we call cilia — which are paralyzed by smoke — begin to work again. So the lungs will get better in weeks to months. Breathing will get better. Exercise capacity will get better. Paradoxically, people find that they cough a little more right after they stop smoking, but thats natural. Thats the lungs cleaning themselves out. But if youve been smoking a long time and have developed COPD [(or, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)], which includes chronic bronchitis or emphysema, the lungs never totally heal. Chronic bronchitis is an inflammation of the airway. Some of that inflammation can be reversed. But if the inflammation has led to scarring of the walls of the airway, some of that cannot. Emphysema is a disease in which the walls of the fine air sacs of the lung — the place where the lung does its business of exchanging oxygen for carbon dioxide — break down. So tiny little air sacs become bigger ones — and theyre less efficient in transporting oxygen. The lung cant grow new walls for these air sacs. The lung loses tiny blood vessels and cant grow new ones. So thats permanent.
Posted on: Fri, 11 Apr 2014 18:33:00 +0000
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