What’s the Link Between Smoking and COPD?

Smoking increases your risk of developing COPD. If you were recently diagnosed, healthcare professionals say you should strongly consider quitting smoking to help improve your treatment outcomes.

Smoking is a well-known risk factor for several diseases, including lung cancer, COPD, heart disease, and more. You don’t need to actively smoke either. Long-term exposure to secondhand smoke can also increase your risk of COPD and other issues.

Quitting can be challenging, but it can greatly help you improve your overall health.

How does smoking affect the lungs?

When it comes to the lungs, smoking is a top offender. Smoking causes both immediate and long lasting effects.

About 7,000 chemicals enter your bloodstream

According to the FDA, each puff of cigarette smoke contains a mix of over 7,000 chemicals that enter your lungs quickly and can spread through your blood to all parts of the body.

The following are just some of the substances and their effects:

• Carbon monoxide: Carbon monoxide displaces oxygen in the blood, depriving organs and other tissues of their needed supply.
• Acrolein: This substance can cause lung damage and lead to a sore throat within 10 minutes.
• Bronchodilators: Bronchodilators open up the lungs more, allowing more of the chemicals in the smoke to get absorbed into the body.

Smoking can destroy the cilia in your lungs

Cilia are tiny, hair-like structures that help clear your lungs of mucus and debris. If they become damaged or destroyed, you might develop a chronic cough called a smoker’s cough.

The damage from smoking also increases your risk of developing lung cancer. According to the FDA, people who smoke have about a 20 times higher chance of developing lung cancer.

It also increases your chances of developing other cancers, such as:

• Oropharynx cancer: This cancer affects the back of the mouth, including the tongue, the sides and back of your throat, the soft palate, and the tonsils.
• Trachea cancer: Trachea cancer starts in your windpipe.
• Larynx cancer: This cancer begins in your voice box.
• Bronchus cancer: Bronchus cancer begins in the large airways connecting the trachea to the lungs.

Secondhand smoke is dangerous, too

You don’t need to be the person smoking to experience some of the negative effects of inhaling smoke.

The American Cancer Society reports that secondhand smoke, also called environmental tobacco smoke, can also increase your risk of developing the same cancers that a person who smokes is at risk of developing.

Secondhand smoke can put both babies in utero and children at risk of developing health issues. Developing babies exposed to smoke in utero (aka in the womb) may develop:

• leukemia
• brain tumors
• lymphoma

Children exposed to secondhand smoke at home or in the car can develop several health-related issues, including:

• an increased number of asthma attacks
• being more likely to wheeze, cough, or experience shortness of breath
• becoming sick more frequently
• developing ear infections more often
• experiencing more lung infections, such as bronchitis and pneumonia

Secondhand smoke exposure can occur in several areas, including:

• public places
• work
• home
• the car

Quitting smoking has both short and long-term benefits, according to the CDC. Your body will start to notice the effects within a few days as the nicotine and excessive levels of carbon monoxide leave your body.

Over time, your risk of developing certain health conditions, such as heart disease, starts to decrease the longer you stay away from smoking.

How does smoking affect COPD?

Smoking is a well-known risk factor for COPD. The FDA estimates that about 8 in 10 COPD cases are due to smoking. However, the American Lung Association reports that about 1 in 4 people who develop COPD never smoked.

About 38% of nearly 16 million people living with COPD report continuing to smoke following diagnosis.

Even exposure to smoke in children and teens increases the risk of COPD. Smoke exposure can cause slow lung development and growth.

If you develop COPD, experts at the CDC recommend you try to stop smoking as part of your treatment. They also suggest avoiding smoke in your environment, including at work, in public, and at home.

Tips for quitting smoking

Quitting smoking can be challenging, but it is doable. Some of these tips may help:

• Let others know you’re trying to quit: When you let others know, they can help support you — including by not buying cigarettes for you, not smoking around you, or not offering you a smoke.
• Find ways to distract yourself when you get an urge: Consider picking up a new hobby, especially something that keeps your hands busy, like crafts, gardening, or playing a game.
• Talk with a doctor about adjusting your medications: If you’re taking medications to help you quit and the urges continue or keep getting stronger, reach out to your doctor.
• Don’t fight or give into a craving: Instead, ride it out, and the urge should pass.
• Find safe substitutes for smoking: Substitutes can imitate the feel of a cigarette in your hand or mouth and help with the cravings.

If nothing you do works, you may want to consider speaking with a doctor about quitting. They may recommend medication or other therapies to help.

You could also try calling the national hotline dedicated to quitting smoking at 1-800-784-8669 (1-800-QUIT-NOW). They can answer questions about quitting and help connect you with a quit coach.

Takeaway

Smoking causes or increases your risk of several health-related issues, including COPD. If you smoke with COPD, you should strongly consider quitting as part of your treatment strategy.

Quitting smoking can be hard, but you can take several steps to help you along with the process. If you feel you can’t do it alone, you may want to consider talking with a doctor or calling 1-800-QUIT-NOW to talk with a quit coach.