After you quit smoking does smokers cough go away? -

Thursday, March 10, 2005

After you quit smoking does smokers cough go away? -


Yes.
Cigarette smoke contains chemicals that irritate the air passages and lungs. When a smoker inhales these substances, the body tries to protect itself by coughing. The well-known -early morning- cough of smokers happens for a different reason. Normally, cilia (tiny hairlike formations lining the airways) beat outward and sweep harmful material out of the lungs. Cigarette smoke, however, decreases the sweeping action, so some of the poisons in the smoke remain in the lungs. When a smoker sleeps, some cilia recover and begin working again. After waking up, the smoker coughs because the lungs are trying to clear away the poisons that built up the previous day. Unfortunately, prolonged exposure to smoke completely destroys the cilia-s ability to function. Then the smoker-s lungs are even more exposed and susceptible than before, especially to bacteria and viruses in the air.

Within a few days you will probably begin to notice some remarkable changes in your body. Your sense of smell and taste may improve. You will breathe easier, and your smoker-s hack will begin to disappear, although you may notice that you will continue to cough for a while. And you will be free from the mess, smell, inconvenience, expense, and dependence of cigarette smoking.

When we smoke and for all the years that we smoked each and every puff on a cigarette destroyed the cilia, or tiny little hair-like projections lining our respiratory tract. These cilia are responsible for filtering out all the impurities we breathe on a daily basis. They line our nose and reach all the way down into our lungs. When we quit smoking, the first thing, essentially to start repairing itself, is the respiratory tract......and as soon as we take the last puff, the cilia start to regenerate themselves. In some people these cilia grow back faster than others.

Coughing is a natural byproduct of the reemerging cilia. It makes no difference how long or how much you smoked, the rate of regrowth can and is different in most of us. The faster the cilia grow, the more likely we are to cough lots in the first weeks of a quit. Our bodies are healing and our lungs are clearing themselves of all the toxins and impurities.

But whether your cilia grow back rapidly and we cough lots or slowly and we cough little....any cough lasting more that a few weeks and is persistant and is accompanied by pain and or fever, should be checked by a qualified physcian. The body heals remarkedly fast but smoking often covers a variety of other illnesses and conditions and a lingering cough should not always be associated with quitting smoking. It-s a great idea for any of us quitting to have our lungs checked out afterwards. It really does help with peace of mind.
not unless you already have lung cancer or emphysema, the cough will gradually disappear
yes
I guess it depends on how long you smoked for! If you dont die from Lung Cancer shortly after you quit then it should eventually go away. I smoked for twelve years and I dont cough anymore. I think It stopped that same year for me. But...I do still have breathing problems and Bronchitis at least once a year.
It takes a while but yes. If you have had a persistent cough then it could be something like sinus drainage that goes into the lungs. However, there are smokers vitamins out there to help with your symptoms and to help get rid of toxins faster.
After you quit smoking does smokers cough go away? -