What Produces Smoker's Cough

By Darren Boste


Why does a person cough? Well, coughing usually indicates there are foreign contaminants in the respiratory tract that wouldn't be there under normal circumstances, and in the case of a smoker that something is the harmful chemicals found in cigarette smoke. The body is simply trying to protect itself by coughing, which is an important feature of our body's complicated defence mechanism. But despite the body's best efforts to cough these toxins out, some of the toxin in the smoke are not expelled from the lungs.What this means is that over time the smoker's health gets worse, never better, as a direct result of inhaling tobacco smoke.

Coughing is a natural reflex that keeps your throat and airways clean. Although it can be annoying, coughing helps to stay healthy. Coughs can be either acute or chronic. Acute coughs begin suddenly and usually last no more than 2 to 3 weeks. Acute coughs are mostly associated with a cold or flu. Chronic coughs last longer than 2 to 3 weeks.

Cigarette smoke contains toxins that irritate the respiratory tract and lungs. When a smoker inhales this smoke, the body tries to protect itself by making mucus and coughing. The early morning smokers cough happens for several. Normally, tiny hair-like formations (cilia) help clearing the airways. Cigarette smoke slows the sweeping action, so some of the toxins in the smoke stay in the lungs and mucus stays in the respiratory tract. During sleep, some cilia recover and start working again. After waking up, the smoker coughs because the lungs are trying to clear away the irritants and mucus that accumulated the day before. The cilia will completely stop working after they have been exposed to smoke for a longer time. Then the smoker's lungs are even more exposed and prone to infection and irritation.

For those who smoke coughing can be like a second nature. In fact morning coughing is not only typical it is often routine. This is often called "smokers cough". A heavy smoker may find they are prone to extended sessions of coughing in the morning. Generally phlegm expulsion is normal and might seem more abundant than it should.

Deciding to quit smoking is the single biggest obstacle that smokers need to overcome when they want to quit smoking. Making a decision is the very first and most important step in the process of becoming healthy again.

Once the decision has been made that smoking is not for you anymore, and you are determined to become a nonsmoker no matter what the results are, you will have made a choice that will positively impact the rest of your life. You will be free of a dirty habit that has upset your body's ability to properly care for you in a natural way.




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