Lungs and Smoking

The lungs serve as the body's gas exchangers. Oxygen (the fuel needed by our cells and organs to function properly) is extracted from inhaled air and sent to the heart by the pulmonary artery for distribution to the rest of the body via the bloodstream. When we exhale, the lungs release carbon dioxide (a natural waste by-product).

The lungs are also responsible for protecting the body from harmful substances that enter our system through the breath, including tobacco smoke.

Because they play multiple roles, lungs are complicated structures consisting of:

  • Bronchi - two major passageways where air moves to the lungs
  • Bronchioles - tens of thousands of smaller airways branching off the bronchi
  • Alveoli - very small air sacs (about 300 million in each lung) at the end of bronchioles where the air we breathe ends up
The highly elastic alveoli operate like tiny balloons, stretching and expanding during air intake and deflating when air is exhaled.

In addition to affecting other systems of the body, smoke from tobacco (a toxin) can damage these air sacs, setting the stage for a number of threatening diseases, including lung cancer, emphysema, heart disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases.

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