When the air goes into your lungs it finds it way to little sacs called alveoli. These sacs have very thin walls and they can let the oxygen diffuse through from the air to the blood. The blood can then take the oxygen where the body needs it. To keep the lungs in working order the or passage is lined with tiny hairs called cilia. These cilia make a liquid called mucus which catch the particles and bacteria that enter. The mucus is wafted up the airway and we spit it out or swallow it.
phlegm- (mucus gob, flob, sputum)
Smoking causes more mucus so we cant swallow it all and we have to cough it up. We cough to get rid of poison but if the cilia are not working it means germs stay in the lining and cause disease.
Chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and lung cancer begins in the cell lining the main air passage or bronchi. These cells lack cilia which catch the particles and make extra mucus which becomes trapped and blocks air passages. The tar in cigarettes can also make the alveoli walls too thick for the oxygen to cross from the lungs to the blood.
The number of packs smoked per day and the number of years of smoking will increase the chance of diseases.
A company in Taiwan has made a coughing ashtray to try and make put people off!!
When you stop smoking your lungs start to repair themselves.