smoking

• Smoking

  Chemicals in cigarette smoke paralyses cilia and they stop working. Particles in the smoke clogs up the mucus making it harder to move. Heat from smoke also kills the mucus and it stops working
• What effect does smoking have on the cleaning mechanism of lungs?

  • Stops harmful substances (e.g tar) enter bronchioles and alveoli
  • People cough to remover irritants and it damages delicate alveoli
  • Bacteria remain in lungs and causes chest infections e.g bronchitis
• Emphysema

  • Chemicals in smoke and coughing damage alveoli and they break down
  • this reduces surface area of the alveoli so there's less surface for diffusion of oxygen
  • less diffusion of oxygen gets into the blood and the person gets breathing difficulties and becomes short of breath
• What's in a cigarette?

  NICOTINE - addictive drug, stimulant (speeds up nervous system)

  TAR - carcinogenic substances that leads to cancer

  CARBON MONOXIDE - combines with haemoglobin in red blood cells - less oxygen can be carried

  43 carginogenic chemicals and other harmful substances - arsenic, ammonia, cyanide