Overproduction Of Mucus In The Lungs And Airway

Each time a cigarette is smoked the detrimental chemicals pass through the airways to the lungs. A person may start with just a cough, but as time goes on they can come to develop asthma, COPD, emphysema, and then even cancer. When the lungs become irritated from the smoke, the cells that produce mucus will grow in quantity and size. This causes thicker and greater amounts of mucus in the lungs and airways. When there is an overproduction of mucus, your system has a hard time clearing it out. The mucus will start to build up causing you to cough as the passageways become narrower (UMPC). While this is happening with the mucus, tiny hair like structures that filter dust and dirt called the cilia dramatically start to slow down and die. Now