1. Do Lungs Heal after Quitting
Smoking?
By
http://2stopsmokingtips.com
2. Introduction
• One question on the lips of ex-
smokers is: “do lungs heal after
quitting smoking?” This article
answers this question and goes on to
describe exactly how smoking affects
the lungs and how to repair it.
3. The Human Body
• The human body has an astonishing
and miraculous ability to heal itself. A
look at ex-smokers is all you need to
prove this point. The very minute
you drops off cigarettes, your body
system begins the healing process.
4. The Human Body(2)
• If you are feeling nervous, quick-tempered,
weary and coughing a lot, just know that you
are experiencing the symptoms of recovery
from nicotine addiction. These symptoms are
the result of your body clearing itself of
nicotine, a powerful and highly addictive
substance. In most cases, your body is rid of
nicotine within 2-3 days.
5. What Happens to the Lungs when You
Quit Smoking?
• Within three months of stopping smoking, the
lung’s ability to inhale and exhale is greatly
improved while the small hair-like cilia in the
lungs get better at moving mucus and cleaning
the lungs after one smoking-free year. Health
challenges such as shortness of breath and
coughing also become a rarity after a year of
not smoking.
6. What Happens to the Lungs when You
Quit Smoking?(2)
• 10 years after smoking cessation, a U.S.
Surgeon General’s report reveals that the
danger of lung cancer plunges to less than half
that of a smoker.
• A Lung Health Study bankrolled by the
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
(NHLBI) claimed that women’s lung function
improved twice as much as men’s during the
first year after stopping smoking.
7. What Happens to the Lungs when You
Quit Smoking?(3)
• Previously, LHS researchers made available
results indicating that both sexes profit from
quit smoking but this new study proves that
women benefit more than men as their lung
function improved speedily after one
smoking-free year. The results can be found in
the June 1 issue of the American Journal of
Epidemiology.
8. What Happens to the Lungs when You
Quit Smoking?(4)
• However, a 2004 U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services report, “The Health
Consequences of Smoking: a Report of the
Surgeon General,” warns that ex-smokers will
always have a more than average risk of lung
cancer than people who have never smoked.
9. How Smoking Affects the Lungs
• Aside the brain, the lungs are the most fragile
organs in the human body. By design, our lungs
are packed with miniature passage ways and air
compartments. Each time you breathe in, fresh
air containing oxygen, is dragged into the
miniature chambers in your lungs. From there,
the oxygen moves to the red blood corpuscles
where it is substituted for carbon dioxide. The
carbon dioxide is then passed out from your
system as you breathe out.
10. How Smoking Affects the Lungs(2)
• According to Kids Health, this breathing in and
out process takes place about 20,000 times each
day. For this process to effectively take place, the
passage ways in your lungs must always be free
of deposits that could block the small passage
ways and obstruct the oxygen/carbon dioxide
flow. To keep the chambers clean, your lungs
have tiny, hair-like structures that line up the
airways called cilia. Healthy cilia clean the lungs
of mucus and reduce chances for infection.
11. How Smoking Affects the Lungs(2)
• Cigarette smoking prevents the cilia from
functioning well because each time you
smoke, pollutants and toxins are dragged into
the lungs. If you are just an irregular smoker,
the cilia can easily filter the dirt out of the
lungs. But if you are a regular smoker, the cilia
cannot effectively perform its function.
12. How Smoking Affects the Lungs(3)
• As you continue to smoke, many of the short cilia
get weakened, making the cleaning process even
more complex. Over time, toxins from cigarette
smoke begin to block the tiny air chambers. In
patients with Chronic OPD, the cilia may be
injured and unable to perform well. Because the
cilia can no longer function optimally, your body
takes to coughing as a way of supporting the cilia
to clear your lungs. But you can fast track the
cleaning process by using the tips below.
13. How to Clean Your Lungs
• Making the lungs free of toxins is one of
the foremost challenges after smoking
cessation. This is because cigarette
smoking tends to leave the lungs not only
contaminated but also dehydrated and
possibly swollen. One thing to keep in
mind is that the lungs cannot be cleansed
completely.
14. How to Clean Your Lungs(2)
• If you want to know the length of time
required for cleansing the lungs after quitting
smoking, please know that it depends on how
long and how much you smoked. More often
than not, it takes about 12 months, and it’s
shocking to hear that it sometimes takes 24 to
36 months to fix the lungs even after you have
dropped off cigarettes.
15. How to Clean Your Lungs(3)
• So, the good thing is to start cleansing your
lungs immediately you kick the smoking habit.
This is to enable you recover your normal
health. You can do this using a simple
combination of food supplements and
vitamins that rinse the toxins out of your lungs
and flush them out of your body. This easy
process will clean out your lungs 10 times
faster than your body can do it on its own.
16. Tips to Clean Your Lungs
• Cleansing your lungs is possible by choosing
the right food supplements, exercise, and
breathing of fresh air. Here are some tips on
how to clean your lungs:
17. Tip No 1
• Consume lots of fruits and vegetables, especially
dark leafy greens. You could also take a
multivitamin pill. Please note that Vitamin E is
very effective when it comes to healing. Both the
National Cancer Institute and the Centers for
Disease Control advocate that adults gobble at
least five servings of fruits and vegetables daily.
This should be critically observed after smoking
cessation as the antioxidants in fruits and
vegetables will help restore your lungs to good
health fast.
18. Tip No 2
• Drink plenty of water. Most people do not drink enough
water. Consuming sodas, coffee and alcohol weighs down
the body system but water heals. It gets toxins out of the
body, softens deposits and phlegm, and greases the
tissue. It also helps thin the mucous out.
• Don’t forget that your lungs make use of moisture with
every breath you take, and the pressure put on them by
smoking makes your lungs work twice as hard(if not
harder). By providing more than enough fluids to your
body, you will help improve your lungs and their
functions. As a rule, I suggest taking a bottle of water
along wherever you go, and sipping from it throughout
the day.
19. Tip No 3
• Carry out deep breathing drills. Breathe in
deeply and slowly through your nostrils. Hold
the breath for several seconds. Let go of the
breath slowly and forcefully through your oral
cavity. Repeat these exercises numerous times
a day. Try to take deeper breaths and hold
your breath longer as your lungs improve.
20. Tip No 4
• Also begin exercising to help cleanse your
lungs. Exercises with expanding and
contracting lungs would be most beneficial.
For most people, swimming does the trick but
if you are not comfortable with swimming,
you can go for another type of exercise like
taking short walks for a start and then
increasing the distance gradually. Also you can
commence with a slow walk, and then wind
up the speed gradually to jogging and running.
21. Tip No 4(continued)
• Exercises advance your cardiovascular
tolerance and effectiveness, allowing you to
run faster and farther. Exercise also improves
your cholesterol level and brings down your
blood pressure, thereby lowering the risk of
heart disease and strokes. It can also perk up
your mood and help normalize your sleep and
wake rotation. You can read up on how
beneficial exercise is to smoking cessation.
22. Tip No 5 & 6
• Dust and mold can irritate your lungs so do a
thorough cleaning of your house. Clean dust from
furniture, window blinds and other areas. Wipe
down walls and vacuum thoroughly and regularly.
This will help clear your environment of dust,
pollutants and smoke in the air that might
impede the improvement of your lungs.
• Avoid second hand smoke, unnatural odors,
perfumes, house cleaning products, and
fireplaces. This will help your lungs improve
faster.
23. Tip No 7
• Get out of the four walls of your home and
breathe in free and fresh air. This can enable
your lungs to get clean air to breath also
promote good health.
24. No Other Lung Treatment
• Apart from smoking cessation, no other
treatments have been uncovered to advance lung
function. Even though studies have shown that
lung function may improve by one year in ex-
smokers with mild lung disease, those with
severe lung disease may just experience a
reduction in their symptoms.
• Last, but not the least, bear in mind that smoking
is a habit, and for you to break any habit, you
need to be patient and take it one step at a time.
25. Will My Lungs Repair Themselves?
• Yes. As with anything that is abused, your
body can cure itself once it’s given the
opportunity. And that includes your lungs!
Cigarette smoking is just like a germ, you’re
sick and coughing and you’ve got really bad
flu. But if we take that germ out with the right
drug, the lungs are able to repair themselves.
26. Will My Lungs Repair Themselves?(2)
• With time, this repair process will go on. But,
your lungs may never be as efficient as they
were before you started smoking. The ability
of lungs to recover from the impact of
smoking depends largely upon the number of
years smokers subject their lungs to the habit.
But experts say the health of lungs begins to
improve the very moment smokers drop their
last cigarettes.
27. Last Word
• This simply means the longer you smoke, the
more damage you cause your lungs, and at
some point, that damage becomes
unalterable. Quitting smoking now will
significantly lessen your chances of any lung
problems in the near or distant future. So, our
last word is: stop smoking today!!! Quit
smoking NOW!!!
28. Thank You for Reading!!!
• For more on such incisive articles, please visit
• www.2stopsmokingtips.com
