Naked Science Forum
Life Sciences => Physiology & Medicine => Topic started by: Anais on 05/12/2010 20:30:04
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Anais asked the Naked Scientists:
Do smokers lungs recover whilst sleeping?
What do you think?
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The only thing that recovers overnight is some of the damage to the airways (trachea, bronchi and bronchioles). Some mechanical damage takes much longer to recover. The tars and carbon deep in the lungs can take decades to be partly removed and genetic and mechanical damage to the lung (alveolar) tissue itself is cumulative and can't be repaired.
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A diurnal cycle of on again/off again smoking won't do a whole lot. Perhaps only give a slight reprieve for the lungs.
They say that after a person quits smoking, the lungs can actually get worse for a few weeks before getting better as the lungs start clearing all the built up goop.
As far as sleeping, one of my neighbors had really bad emphysema. Dragging an O2 bottle around while mowing the yard.
Anyway, he was put on a CPAP (or BiPAP) at night. And, it made a tremendous change in his quality of life. Very soon afterwards,he was able to wean off of most of his daytime oxygen supplements.
The masks wouldn't necessarily help everyone, but they can be beneficial in some cases.