We’ve always been told that if you quit smoking, your risk of diseases such as lung cancer will drop, and you won’t have damage your lungs anymore.
Now a UK study from the Wellcome Sanger Institute has shown these benefits could go further – with the human body appearing to use healthy cells to replace smoke-damaged ones in the lungs of smokers after they quit.
The research examined lung biopsies from 16 people, both current, ex- and non-smokers looking for mutations that can lead to cancer.
Nine out of every 10 lung cells in current smokers had mutations, including those that can cause cancer, but in the ex-smokers, many of those damaged cells had been replaced by healthy ones similar those seen in people who had never smoked – even though some had smoked more than 15,000 packs of cigarettes in their life.
Overall, up to 40% of the lung cells in ex-smokers were healthy – compared to less than 10% in the current smokers.
“People who have smoked heavily for 30, 40 or more years often say to me that it’s too late to stop smoking – the damage is already done,” the study’s joint senior author, Peter Campbell said.
“What is so exciting about our study is that it shows that it’s never too late to quit.”
While the sample was only small, the researchers are now looking to locate where these healthy cells come from – in the hope of making them even more effective at repairing the lungs.
Extra motivation if you are looking to quit?
