Light And Heavy Smoking Impact Lungs In The Same Adverse Way And Cause Irreversible Damage
A research has revealed that the difference in damage caused to the lungs by smoking two packets in a day versus having five cigarettes is not much.
Smoking in any form is bad for your lungs and if you thought, since you're a light smoker, you won't affect your lungs as adversely as a chain smoker, you couldn't be more wrong. Research has revealed that the difference in damage caused to the lungs by smoking two packets in a day versus having five cigarettes is not much.
The study was conducted by researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. The researchers looked specifically at the amount of air smokers, ex-smokers and never-smokers can breathe in and out.
Lung capacity of an individual declines with age when one enters in their 20s, and smoking just speeds this process. The researchers studied the lung performance of more than 25,000 people to see considerable differences in lung function between light smokers and heavy smokers.
According to the study, lung function in light smokers declines at a rate very close to heavy smokers. Basically, a light smoker would lose the same amount of lung function in a year that a heavy smoker lost in 9 months.
Moreover, a 40-year old study assumed that your lungs would get back to its original state after you quit smoking. However, the new study reveals that even though the deterioration rate lowers considerably, but it never gets back to how it used to be.
According to study leader Elizabeth Oelsner, MD, a Herbery Irving Assistant Professor of Medicine at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons "That's consistent with a lot of biological studies. There are anatomic differences in the lung that persist for years after smokers quit and gene activity also remains altered."
The research also shed light on smoking's effect on lung function and the fact that why smokers have higher chances of developing chronic obtrusive pulmonary disease or COPD. COPD is a phenomenon when a lung function drops a certain baseline. As per the research, light smokers have higher chances of developing COPD too.
Oelsner says, "We probably need to expand our notions of who is at risk. In the future, if we find therapies that reduce the risk of developing COPD, everyone at increased risk should benefit."
The study was conducted by researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. The researchers looked specifically at the amount of air smokers, ex-smokers and never-smokers can breathe in and out.
Lung capacity of an individual declines with age when one enters in their 20s, and smoking just speeds this process. The researchers studied the lung performance of more than 25,000 people to see considerable differences in lung function between light smokers and heavy smokers.
According to the study, lung function in light smokers declines at a rate very close to heavy smokers. Basically, a light smoker would lose the same amount of lung function in a year that a heavy smoker lost in 9 months.
Moreover, a 40-year old study assumed that your lungs would get back to its original state after you quit smoking. However, the new study reveals that even though the deterioration rate lowers considerably, but it never gets back to how it used to be.
According to study leader Elizabeth Oelsner, MD, a Herbery Irving Assistant Professor of Medicine at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons "That's consistent with a lot of biological studies. There are anatomic differences in the lung that persist for years after smokers quit and gene activity also remains altered."
The research also shed light on smoking's effect on lung function and the fact that why smokers have higher chances of developing chronic obtrusive pulmonary disease or COPD. COPD is a phenomenon when a lung function drops a certain baseline. As per the research, light smokers have higher chances of developing COPD too.
Oelsner says, "We probably need to expand our notions of who is at risk. In the future, if we find therapies that reduce the risk of developing COPD, everyone at increased risk should benefit."