Tobacco & Lung Disease
How Tobacco Affects Your Lungs
Your lungs are designed to bring oxygen into your body and remove carbon dioxide. Every time you breathe, the air passes through delicate airways and tiny air sacs that work together to deliver oxygen to your bloodstream.
Commercial tobacco smoke and other nicotine products can damage this system over time. The chemicals in tobacco smoke irritate the airways, reduce the lungs' ability to clean themselves, and destroy healthy lung tissue. This damage can make breathing more difficult and increase the risk of chronic lung disease.
The good news is that quitting tobacco can improve lung health at any age. While some damage cannot be reversed, quitting can slow disease progression, improve symptoms, and reduce the risk of future health problems.
How Tobacco Damages the Lungs
Commercial tobacco smoke contains thousands of chemicals, many of which are toxic or known to cause cancer.
Over time, tobacco smoke can:
- Damage the airways and air sacs (alveoli)
- Reduce lung function
- Cause chronic inflammation
- Damage the tiny hair-like structures (cilia) that help remove mucus and germs
- Increase mucus production
- Make it harder to fight respiratory infections
These changes can lead to chronic coughing, shortness of breath, wheezing, and an increased risk of serious lung disease.
Tobacco and COPD
Smoking is the leading cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), including chronic bronchitis and emphysema.
People who smoke are much more likely to develop COPD than those who do not smoke, although COPD can also occur in people with other risk factors, such as occupational exposures or certain genetic conditions.
Smoking can:
- Speed the progression of COPD
- Increase shortness of breath
- Increase the frequency of COPD flare-ups
- Reduce exercise tolerance
- Make everyday activities more difficult
Quitting smoking is the single most effective step to slow the progression of COPD and improve long-term health.
Tobacco and Asthma
Smoking and secondhand smoke can make asthma more difficult to control.
Tobacco smoke irritates the airways and can:
- Trigger asthma attacks
- Increase coughing and wheezing
- Reduce the effectiveness of some asthma medications
- Increase emergency department visits and hospitalizations
- Increase the risk of developing asthma symptoms in children
Creating smoke-free homes, vehicles, and workplaces is especially important for people living with asthma.
Tobacco and Lung Cancer
Smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer.
The risk increases with both the number of cigarettes smoked and the number of years a person has smoked. However, there is no completely safe level of tobacco smoke exposure.
Secondhand smoke also increases the risk of lung cancer in people who do not smoke.
Quitting smoking reduces the risk of lung cancer over time, although former smokers should continue to discuss lung cancer screening with their healthcare professional if they meet screening guidelines.
Tobacco and Respiratory Infections
Tobacco smoke weakens the lungs' natural defenses, making it harder to fight infections.
People who smoke are more likely to develop:
- Bronchitis
- Pneumonia
- Influenza (flu)
- COVID-19 complications
- Other respiratory infections
Smoking also slows recovery after illness and may increase the severity of respiratory infections.
Tobacco and Indoor Air Quality
Smoking doesn't just affect the person using tobacco, it also affects everyone nearby.
Secondhand smoke and thirdhand smoke expose family members, friends, coworkers, and neighbors to harmful chemicals that can damage lung health.
Creating tobacco-free homes and vehicles is one of the most effective ways to improve indoor air quality and protect children and other vulnerable individuals.
Benefits of Quitting for Lung Health
It's never too late to quit using tobacco. Your lungs and body begin healing soon after you stop smoking.
Quitting can help:
- Slow the progression of COPD
- Reduce coughing and mucus production
- Improve breathing
- Lower the risk of lung cancer
- Reduce the frequency of asthma attacks
- Improve the body's ability to fight infections
- Increase exercise tolerance
- Improve the effectiveness of COPD and asthma treatments
- Improves the function of every single organ.
Even people who have smoked for many years can experience meaningful health benefits after quitting.
Protecting Your Lungs
Whether or not you currently use tobacco, there are steps you can take to protect your lungs:
- Quit smoking or vaping if you currently use tobacco or nicotine products.
- Avoid secondhand and thirdhand smoke.
- Keep your home and vehicle tobacco-free.
- Stay physically active.
- Stay up to date on recommended vaccines.
- Reduce exposure to poor air quality and other lung irritants.
- Talk with your healthcare professional if you have a persistent cough, shortness of breath, wheezing, or other ongoing respiratory symptoms.
Early evaluation and treatment can improve outcomes for many lung conditions.
Ready to Quit?
If you're thinking about quitting tobacco, you don't have to do it alone.
Talk with your healthcare professional about tobacco treatment options, including counseling and FDA-approved quit medications.
Free support is available through the New Hampshire Quitline by calling 1-800-QUIT-NOW or visiting QuitNowNH.org.
